Adverbs in English grammar are words that modify (give more information about) a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs usually tell us how, when, where, how often, or to what degree an action happens. They are one of the parts of speech.
Examples–
1.Modifying a verb:
She sings beautifully. (How does she sing?)
They arrived late. (When did they arrive?)
2. Modifying an adjective:
The film was really interesting. (How interesting?)
He is very tall. (To what degree?)
3.Modifying another adverb:
She spoke quite softly.
He runs very quickly.
Types of Adverbs:
1. Adverbs of Manner – how something happens.
quickly, slowly, happily, sadly
e.g., She drives carefully.
2. Adverbs of Time – when something happens
now, yesterday, soon, already
e.g., I will call you tomorrow.
3.Adverbs of Place – where something happens
- here, there, everywhere, outside
- e.g., Let’s meet outside.
4. Adverbs of Frequency – how often something happens
e.g., He always wakes up early.
always, often, sometimes, never
5. Adverbs of Degree – the intensity/extent
very, quite, almost, too, extremely
e.g., She is too tired to work.
Common Rules:
●Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to adjectives:
quick → quickly, happy → happily, slow → slowly.
(But not all: e.g., fast, hard, late are adverbs without -ly.)
●Position in a sentence:
Before the main verb: She often visits us.
After the verb: He runs fast.
At the beginning/end: Yesterday, we went to the park.