Adverbs & Adverb Types

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, that is, they describe verbs. They also show to what degree something has been done. Many adverbs end in -ly. For example:

• Annie walked quietly into the room.
• My house was completely destroyed in the earthquake.
• He blatantly ignored my request.

Sometimes we use adverbs that do not end in -ly and we often refer to these as irregular adverbs. For example:

• I’ve heard enough of your get rich quick schemes!
• Martin screwed the lid on the peanut butter jar tight.
• You’re going to have to drive your car fast to get there on time.

An adverb can also modify other words such as adjectives.

• The whole lesson was extremely boring.
  (The adjective is boring)
• The stones were hot enough to fry an egg on them.
  (The adjective is hot)
• The man was completely unaware of the crime.
  (The adjective is unaware)

An adverbial can often be a phrase or a group of words that function as an adverb. For example:

• Get down here as quickly as possible.
• We get together twice a week for dinner.
• The children could run around to their heart’s content.

Adverbs of Manner, Time, Place and Frequency

There are different types of adverbs and they do a lot of work. However, in this module we are going to examine just four types of adverb:

Adverbs of Manner
These adverbs concentrate on how something is done. For example:

• Please don’t speak so quickly. I can’t hear what you are saying.
• The man walked hurriedly to the train station.
• The man next door plays his music so loudly. He must be deaf.

Adverbs of Time
These adverbs concentrate on when something is done.

• Shall I come round now?
• I saw Martin last week.
• I saw him yesterday.

Adverbs of Place
These adverbs concentrate on where something is done.

• Shall we meet here again another time?
• There it is! Can you see it?
• I was walking through the mountains and everywhere I could hear the sound of grazing sheep.

Adverbs of Frequency
These adverbs concentrate on how often something is done.

• I usually go to the cinema every week.
• I always catch the train to work.
• Martin plays chess occasionally.

We often use adverbials that generally give more information when we use these kinds of adverbs, such as:

• I go to the cinema about four times a month.
• I catch the train to work most days.
• Martin plays chess a couple of times a year. 

Gerunds vs Present Participles

Gerunds can also appear in compound nouns, such as:

• Swimming pool
• Shopping centre
• Racing pigeon

...and in phrases where there is no main verb, such as:

• How about giving me a lift?
• No smoking!

The gerund should not be confused with the present participle, which has the same form (verb-ing)
The –ing form is always present participle if it is preceded by the auxiliary verb be:
In the present tense:

• am
• are
• is

In the past tense:

• was
• were

If the –ing form is preceded by be, it is part of the continuous tense structure. Continuous tenses will be dealt with in detail in a future module. Here are some examples. Note that these sentences do not contain any gerunds, only present participles.

• We’re seeing a movie tonight. Would you like to come?
  (Making arrangements with someone)
• I’m watching TV at the moment.
  (On the phone to a friend)
• Charles was teaching in class when a student asked a question.
  (Describing something that was in progress sometime in the past which was interrupted by something else)
• Mark is running his own business at the moment.
  (Describing a current state or situation)
• We were playing squash yesterday.
  (Describing an event that was in progress in the past)

Sometimes a present participle is not preceded by a form of ‘to be’. For example, in the sentence “I saw him dancing” “dancing” is a present participle as it doesn’t operate as a noun. As a test, try replacing it by “something”. You cannot say “I saw him something”, therefore it is neither a noun nor a gerund. On the other hand, you can say “I enjoy something”, therefore in the sentence “I enjoy dancing” ‘dancing’ is

a gerund.
Another example:

• He loves looking up at the clouds (“He loves something” – gerund)
• He lay looking up at the clouds (NOT “He lay something” – present participle)

These grammar points on use of gerunds are by no means exhaustive. This area of grammar is quite complex, so a good read through the section on gerunds in a decent grammar book would not go amiss. In the meantime, have a look at the next exercise.