Adverbs

An adverb is a word that tells more about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often answer the questions how, when, where, or how much. For example, in the sentence she ran quickly, the word quickly is an adverb that tells how she ran. Adverbs make your writing more detailed and interesting.

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs of manner tell how something is done, like carefully or loudly. Adverbs of time tell when, like yesterday or soon. Adverbs of place tell where, like here or outside. Adverbs of degree tell how much, like very or almost. Each type adds different information to a sentence.

Spotting Adverbs

Many adverbs end in the letters ly. Slowly, happily, and gently are all adverbs. But not all adverbs end in ly. Words like very, always, never, and soon are also adverbs. To find an adverb, look for words that describe how, when, or where something happens.

Fun Facts

• The word very is one of the most commonly used adverbs in the English language.
• Not all words ending in ly are adverbs. The word friendly is actually an adjective.
• Some languages put adverbs in different places in the sentence than English does.

Did You Know?

Some famous writing teachers suggest using fewer adverbs because strong verbs can often do the job better, like sprinted instead of ran quickly.