Adverbs PDF Notes, Documents and Exercises with Answers





Types of Adverbs, Definition and Examples

In this lesson, we will learn the types and definitions of adverbs and reinforce them with examples. There are many different types of adverbs in the English language and they all have their own rules and exceptions. However, manner adverbs, frequency adverbs, time adverbs, degree adverbs and place adverbs are the most commonly used.

Adverbs of Time

Time adverbs describe how long and when an action occurred. These are widely used in English and their placement in the sentence is quite clear. Their positions are generally at the end of the sentence. In most cases, the time frame is at the end of the sentence. For example:

  • I have been cycling for 5 years, but I have been going to school by bike since last December.
  • John arrived last week, in March 2020.

Adverbs of Manner

Manner adverbs tell us how something happened. There are many words in this group, including those created by adding the –ly tag to an adjective. For example, “nicely” is an adverb derived from the adjective “nice”. The following two sentences are similar in meaning, but the first is an adjective, while the second is an adverbs derived from that adjective.

  • He has a nice voice.
  • He sings nicely.




Adverbs of Frequency

Frequency adverbs such as weekly, daily, quarterly or annually tell the listener how often an action takes place. Sometimes frequency adverbs come before the main verb and after the auxiliary verb. If there is only one verb in the sentence, the adverb is written right after that. If there is an auxiliary verb, the adverb comes after the auxiliary verbs and before the main verb. For example;

  • Timmy always writes at day. (There is only one verb here, so “writes,” so the adverb comes first.)
  • They should always get up early in the morning. (The adverb is written after the auxiliary verb “should” and before the verb “get up”.)

Adverbs of Place

Location adverbs inform the speaker about the location where an action occurred. “Where did an action take place?” This question can only be asked to verbs, as they answer the question. Place adverbs such as around, outside, here, nearby, there and everywhere are at the end of the sentence. This adverb comes after the main verb or the object of the main verb. For example;

  • The students like to play outside.
  • They are planning a vacation nearby.

Adverbs of Degree

Degree adverbs like very, too, extremely or enough give us information about the density of something. These adverbs usually precede the adjective, adverb or verb they replace. But there are some exceptions to this. Unlike place adverbs, such adverb replace adjective and adverb as well as verb. For example;

  • I totally agree with Tom!
  • Tomas really want a new computer.

Here are Adverbs PDF Documents and Notes