What is an Adverb?

Types of Adverbs

An adverb is a word which tells us more about

• A verb: Amie eats quickly.
• An adverb: The squirrel nibbled quite greedily.
• An adjective: I am very happy.

In the previous classes, you have been taught the following types of adverbs:

• Adverb of time (which show when)
• Adverb of place (which show where)
• Adverb of manner (which show how)
• Adverb of degree (which show to what extent)
• Adverb of frequency (which show how often)

These are also called simple adverbs. Let us look at a few examples of each type.

Simple Adverbs

• Adverb of Manner
  • The fox looked at Lucy slyly.
  • He painted on the canvas beautifully.
  • The boy wailed loudly as his mother closed the door.
  • The dog drooled at the meat greedily.

• Adverb of Degree
  • Chetan was very sad after his classmate left school.
  • Jeevika almost won the race before she fell on the track.
  • This experiment is partly valid.
  • Arushi was too frightened to say anything about the incident.

• Adverb of Frequency
  • Joseph is always worried about his son.
  • My dog rarely sleeps all day.
  • Kimaya would sometimes sit near the lake in the evenings.
  • Rajkamal seldom borrows money from anyone.

Adverbs can also be used in question statements.

Interrogative Adverbs

Adverbs are also used in relative clauses.

Recap