Business English at Work 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill

Adverbs
Adverb
An adverb answers these questions:
How? In what manner? patiently, boldly, slowly, softly, enthusiastically When? recently, later, finally, daily, again, formerly Where? outside, here, down, forward, up, away To what extent? To what degree? extremely, very, too, rarely, completely, frequently
Business English at Work PP 13-2

Adverbs
AdverbsModify Verbs
Place the adverb before or after the verb that is modified.
When businesses knowingly deceive customers, they are violating ethical standards. Do not illegally copy paper or electronic documents.

Business English at Work

PP 13-3

Adverbs
AdverbsModify Adjectives
Place the adverb immediately before the adjective.
The courtesy of greeting others within your own firm is universally acceptable in the United States. In some countries, greetings are very expressive and elaborate. Downsizing is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to lower expenses.
Business English at Work PP 13-4

Adverbs
AdverbsModify Other Adverbs
Place the adverb immediately before the adverb being modified.
We very precisely judged the commute time to our new clients office. Ruby did extremely well on the ethics section of her real estate exam.

Business English at Work

PP 13-5

Adverbs
Descriptive Adjectives Before Nouns
Add ly to an adjective root to form the majority of adverbs.
Adjective cautious extreme perfect skillful
Business English at Work

Adverb cautiously extremely perfectly skillfully

PP 13-6

Adverbs
Noun Base Used to Form Adjectives Ending in ly
Use root words to identify words ending in ly as adjectives or adverbs.
Noun
brother neighbor earth world love
Business English at Work

Adjective
brotherly neighborly earthly worldly lovely
PP 13-7

Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in y
Change the y to i and add ly to an adjective ending in y to form an adverb.
Adjective busy easy heavy merry
Business English at Work

Adverb busily easily heavily merrily

PP 13-8

Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in ible or able
Drop the final e on adjectives that end in able or ible before adding the y to form the adverb.
Adjective forcible terrible possible
Business English at Work

Adverb forcibly terribly possibly

PP 13-9

Adverbs
Adverbs Formed From Adjectives Ending in ic
Add ally to adjectives ending in ic to form the adverb.
Adjective chronic logic magic scenic
Business English at Work

Adverb chronically logically magically scenically

PP 13-10

Adverbs
AdverbsModify Adjectives
The following list includes some adverbs that do not end in ly.
again almost always down far fast hard
Business English at Work

more much near now nowhere often once

sometimes soon then there too twice up

PP 13-11

Adverbs
Do Not Hyphenate Adverbs Ending in ly
Examples
a carelessly written memo a richly deserved award an internationally recognized sign a highly successful business

Business English at Work

PP 13-12

Adverbs
VerbsAction Versus Linking
Use an adverb to modify action verbs.
Tucker intentionally withheld confidential information. The employee thoughtlessly made an inappropriate comment to Julie.

Use an adjective, not an adverb, after a linking verb to describe the subject.
The manager felt bad about the dependence on temporary workers. Karen seems distraught over the missing computer disk.
Business English at Work PP 13-13

Adverbs
VerbsBoth Linking and Action
Clarify the intent of the sentence before making a decision about such verbs as look, taste, or feel. Use adverbs when these words are action words.
He hurriedly looked for the contract on his desk.

Use adjectives when these words function as linking verbs.

Things looked bad for Jerome after he lost his job.

Business English at Work

PP 13-14

Adverbs
Adjectives and Adverbs With the Same Form
Some adverbs and adjectives that have the same form include fast, first, last, early, and right. Use an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun.
Turn left at the first stop sign.

Use an adverb to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Return Andrews phone call first.
Business English at Work PP 13-15

Adverbs
One-Syllable Adverbs
Add er to the positive form for its comparative degree. Add est to the positive form for its superlative degree.
Positive Comparative Superlative

fast late soon

Business English at Work

faster later sooner

fastest latest soonest

PP 13-16

Adverbs
Two-Syllable Adverbs
Add er or the word more or the word less before the positive form for the comparative degree. Add est or the word most or the word least for the superlative degree.
Positive Comparative Superlative

quickly nearly

more quickly (quicker) most quickly (quickest) more nearly most nearly

Business English at Work

PP 13-17

Adverbs
Three-Syllable Adverbs
Add the word more or the word less before the positive form to form its comparative degree. Add the word most or the word least before the positive form to form its superlative degree.
Positive Comparative Superlative

efficiently dangerously Reliably

Business English at Work

more efficiently more dangerously more reliably

most efficiently most dangerously most reliably

PP 13-18

Adverbs
Irregular Adverbs
Use irregular comparisons for some adverbs.
Positive Comparative Superlative

well badly

better worse

best worst

Business English at Work

PP 13-19

Adverbs
Absolute Adverbs
Some adverbs do not allow for comparisons
no there too now here very past partly annually basically sometimes

We feel that we need more telephone lines now. Ethics concerns today are similar to those in the past.
Business English at Work PP 13-20

Adverbs
Cautions for Using Not and Never
Use not in a negative statement. Place not between the helping verb and the main verb in a sentence.
Some employees do not treat all customers with respect.

Use never as a stronger word than not to mean at no time.

Being rude to a customer is never acceptable.

Refrain from using never if not will suffice.

Business English at Work PP 13-21

Adverbs
Cautions for Using Contractions
Use an apostrophe to take the place of the missing letter or letters in such words as
arent wouldnt doesnt hasnt cant dont isnt

He doesnt anticipate rewriting the code of ethics for several years. She hasnt missed a day of work this year.
Business English at Work PP 13-22

Adverbs
Double Negatives
Double negatives are two negative words used in a sentence. This combination gives the clause a positive meaning rather than the intended negative meaning. Incorrect I have not seen no evidence of employee theft. Correct I have seen no evidence of employee theft. I have not seen any evidence of employee theft.
Business English at Work PP 13-23a

Adverbs
continued

Double Negatives

Incorrect
I couldnt hardly believe that the computer was missing.

Correct
I could hardly believe that the computer was missing. I could not believe that the computer was missing.

Incorrect
I cant go nowhere until I help these customers.

Correct
I can go nowhere until I help these customers. I cannot go anywhere until I help these customers.
Business English at Work PP 13-23b

Adverbs
Placement of Only
Place the adverb only immediately before the word or group of words it modifies.
Only long-time employees can take vacations during June. Long-time employees can take vacations only during June.

Business English at Work

PP 13-24

Adverbs
Adverb Clauses
Use subordinating conjunctions such as after, although, before, because, if, unless, when, and while to introduce dependent adverb clauses. Place the adverb clause as closely as possible to the words modified.

Business English at Work

PP 13-25a

Adverbs
continued

Adverb Clauses

Use commas after introductory adverb clauses that precede independent clauses.
Although he broke no laws, his actions were still unethical.

Do not use commas to set aside adverb clauses that follow independent clauses.
Plan to arrive 10 minutes before the meeting begins. We will start the meeting after serving refreshments.
Business English at Work PP 13-25b

Adverbs
Farther/Further (Adverbs)
Use farther to refer to physical distance.
We traveled farther from the airport than we anticipated to find our hotel.

Use further to mean additional or additionally.

He explained further the reasons for adjusting our work schedules.

Business English at Work

PP 13-26

Adverbs
Good/Well
Use good as an adjective.
Making ethical choices is often more than being a good person.

Use well as an adverb.

The new code of ethics has worked very well during the past year.

Use well as an adjective in reference to the state of someones health.

Although Anna was not well, she stayed at work long enough to complete writing the payroll checks.
Business English at Work PP 13-27

Adverbs
Most/Almost
Use almost as an adverb to mean nearly. Use almost if the word nearly can be substituted satisfactorily.
Almost all of us use our yearly vacation time.

Use most as a limiting adjective to modify a noun.

Most new supervisors have trouble with ethical situations.

Use most as the superlative degree in a comparison.

The speaker answered the question most effectively.
Business English at Work PP 13-28

Adverbs
Real/Really
Use real as a descriptive adjective to mean genuine. Do not use real to modify another adjective.
We never knew the real reason for losing the Manila contract.

Business English at Work

PP 13-29a

Adverbs
continued

Real/Really

Use really as an adverb to mean genuinely. Substitute very for the word really to determine if really is the correct word.
Cynthia is really supportive of our efforts to improve customer satisfaction.

Business English at Work

PP 13-29b

Adverbs
Sometime/Sometimes/Some Time
Use sometime as an adverb to mean at some unscheduled time or in the future.
Sometime next week we are meeting to revise our customer service policy.

Use sometimes as an adverb to mean on some occasions.

We sometimes waive late payment charges.
Business English at Work PP 13-30a

Adverbs
continued

Sometime/Sometimes/ Some Time

Use some time as a phrase in which the adjective some modifies the noun time. Some time designates an amount of time.
The revision of the ethics policy will take some time.

Business English at Work

PP 13-30b

Adverbs
Sure/Surely
Use sure as an adjective.
They thought a lock on the supply cabinet was the sure solution for reducing theft.

Use surely as an adverb to mean without a doubt.

Ellen surely makes an excellent impression on customers.
Business English at Work PP 13-31

End of

Business English at Work 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill