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Be Careful!
Some adjectives don't change in the adverb form. The most important of these are: fast - fast,
hard - hard
Good is probably the most important exception. The adverb form of 'good' is 'well'.
Unfortunately, this is a common mistake that many Americans make!
NOT!!: He plays tennis good.
2. Rule: Adverbs can also modify an adjective. In this case, the adverb is placed before the
adjective.
Do not use 'very' with adjectives that express an increased quality of a basic adjective
Example: good - fantastic
NOT!!: She is a very beautiful woman.
3. Rule: Adverbs of frequency (always, never, sometimes, often, etc.) usually come before the
main verb
Example: He is often late for class. Do you always eat in a restaurant? They don't
usually travel on Fridays.
• Adverbs of frequency expressing infrequency are not usually used in the negative or question
form.
NOT!!: Does she rarely eat fish? They don't seldom go to the cinema.
For example: We'll let you know our decision next week.
For example: Fortunately, there were enough seats left for the concert.
Adverb Formation
Adverbs of Manner: Adverbs of manner are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the
end of the sentence).
For example: Their teacher speaks quickly.
Adverbs of Time: Adverbs of time are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the end of
the sentence).
For example: She visited her friends last year.
Adverbs of Frequency: Adverbs of frequency are placed before the main verb (not the
auxiliary verb).
For example: He often goes to bed late. Do you sometimes get up early?
Adverbs of Degree: Adverbs of degree are placed after the verb or entire expression (at the
end of the sentence).
For example: She'll attend the meeting as well.
Some adverbs are placed at the beginning of a sentence to provide more emphasis.
For example: Now you tell me you can't come!
Adverbs of frequency are placed after the verb 'to be' when used as the main verb of the
sentence. For example: Jack is often late for work.
Some adverbs of frequency (sometimes, usually, normally) are also placed at the beginning of
the sentence for emphasis. For example: Sometimes I visit my friends in London.
Examples:
Tom is an excellent singer.
I bought a comfortable chair.
She's thinking about buying a new house.
Adjectives are also used in simple sentences with the verb 'to be'. In this case, the adjective
describes the subject of the sentence:
Examples:
Jack is happy.
Peter was very tired.
Mary'll be excited when you tell her.
Adjectives are used with sense verbs or verbs of appearance (feel, taste, smell, sound, appear
and seem) to modify the noun which comes before the verb:
Examples:
The fish tasted awful.
Did you see Peter? He seemed very upset.
I'm afraid the meat smelled rotten.
Adverbs
• Adverbs are easily recognized because the end in '-ly' (with a few exceptions!):
Examples:
Adjective careful Adverb carefully
Adjective quick Adverb quickly
• Adverbs are often used at the end of a sentence to modify the verb:
Examples:
Jack drove carelessly.
Tom played the match effortlessly.
Jason complained about his classes constantly.
• Adverbs are used to modify adjectives:
Examples:
Examples:
The people in the line moved incredibly quickly.
She wrote the report unusually neatly.
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens/is the case, happened/was the
case, will happen/will be the case, etc.
usually
constantly normally sometimes
habitually chiefly mostly often occasionally rarely
always predominantly generally frequently sporadically infrequently never
typically commonly repeatedly intermittently seldom
continuously largely spasmodically
regularly
1. If the sentence has one verb in it (e.g. no auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb in the
middle of the sentence, i.e. after the subject and before the verb:
Position A
Position B
3. If the sentence has more than one verb in it (e.g. auxiliary verb) we usually put the adverb
after the first part of the verb:
Position C