THE FLATMATES
Language point:
Adverbs of manner
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The Flatmates – Adverbs of manner
You can see this language point online at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode75/languagepoint.shtml
Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens.
In this episode of The Flatmates, Paul says:
'…that ended very abruptly…'.
If we ask: how did it end? - The answer is 'abruptly'.
Paul also says:
'…she calmly announced that she had fallen in love with someone else.'
If we ask: how did she announce it? - The answer is 'calmly'.
Other examples:
He swims fast. How does he swim? – fast.
She sings beautifully. How does she sing? – beautifully.
I opened the door wide. How did I open the door? – wide.
She quickly finished her dinner. How did she finish? – quickly.
Adverbs of manner - position
Adverbs of manner are usually placed after the main verb.
He swims fast.
She sings beautifully.
It is possible to place the adverb before the verb. This places emphasis on the
adverb.
She calmly announced that she had fallen in love with someone else.
She quickly finished her dinner.
But some adverbs are always placed after the verb.
These adverbs are: well, badly, hard, fast.
The team well played. – WRONG
The team played well. – RIGHT
He performed badly.
The students tried hard. (note: hard is an irregular adverb – don't say hardly)
The dogs ran fast. (note: fast is an irregular adverb – don't say fastly)
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Adverbs of manner – verbs with objects
If the verb has an object, the adverb of manner is usually placed after the object,
not between the verb and object.
I opened wide the door. – WRONG
I opened the door wide. – RIGHT
He ate the chocolate cake greedily.
She typed the email hurriedly.
However, it is still possible to place the adverb before the verb, to emphasise the
adverb.
He greedily ate the chocolate cake.
She hurriedly typed the email.
Adverbs of manner – beginning position
Some writers put an adverb of manner at the beginning of a sentence, to catch the
reader's attention and make him/her curious:
Slowly, carefully, she opened the box.
This use of adverb position makes the reader want to find out more. What is in the
box? Why did she open it slowly and carefully?
Adverbs of manner – more than one verb
When there is more than one verb in a clause, the position of the adverb is very
important. If it is placed with the verb, it modifies the action described by the
verb. If it is placed at the end of the clause, it describes the manner of the whole
action described in the clause.
Compare:
She slowly decided to leave the party. = slowly modifies decided.
She decided to leave the party slowly. = slowly modifies leave the party.
The teacher quietly asked the children to finish their game. = quietly modifies
asked.
The teacher asked the children to finish their game quietly. = quietly modifies
finish (their game).
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Adverb modifiers – a bit, quite, most, fairly, very, extremely
You can give more information about most adverbs of manner by using a word such
as:
a bit
quite
most
fairly
really
very
extremely
These words are always placed before the adverb.
Very carefully, she carried the baby upstairs.
She carried the baby upstairs very carefully.
She very carefully carried the baby upstairs.
He finished his homework really quickly.
Common adverbs of manner
angrily
badly
beautifully
carefully
cautiously
cleverly
dangerously
eagerly
excitedly
foolishly
fast
furiously
greedily
happily
hard
hurriedly
kindly
nervously
politely
quickly
quietly
secretly
silently
slowly
softly
stupidly
unhappily
well
wickedly
wisely
Vocabulary
hang up (v)
to end a telephone call by deliberately breaking the connection
end of story
when English speakers use this informal phrase, they mean that there is no reason
to continue discussing something - there's no more to be said
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it's over
the relationship is finished
abruptly (adv)
suddenly, without warning
announced
said something formally, publicly or officially. Paul uses the verb 'announce' to show
that his wife did not discuss their separation with him
moved out
took all his belongings and left his home to go and live somewhere else
Would you like to try an online quiz about this language point? Go to:
http://bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode75/quiz.shtml
Or you can download the quiz from:
http://bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode75/quiz.pdf
More on this language point:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv279.shtml
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