ADVERB

DEFINITION: Adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb.

Examples:
She was writing slowly on her notebook.
This book is pretty good.
It moves incredibly fast. Manner

Place
Kinds of adverb:
Time

ADVERBS Frequency

Sentence

Degree

Interrogative

Relative

1) Adverbs of Manner: They show the way people do things. (Like: happily, sadly, slowly,
fast, well, etc.)
e.g. The girl answered all the questions correctly.
He plays the piano skillfully.
You can buy clothes very cheaply.
Notes:
a) Adverbs of manner usually end in ‘ly’.
e.g. nicely, slowly, beautifully, etc.

b) Remember that some words end in ‘ly’ but they are not adverbs of manner.
e.g. friendly, lovely, silly, brotherly, etc.
c) Some adverbs of manner are irregular; it means they do not end in ‘ly’.
e.g. well, fast, hard, etc.
 2) Adverbs of Place: They show the place of an action or state. (Like: by, down, here,
there, near, up, down, etc.)
e.g. One of you is outside.
The boys are playing upstairs.
You can sit near him.
His brother lives abroad.

3) Adverbs of Time: These adverbs show the time of an action or state. (Like: now, then,
soon, still, yet, etc.)
e.g. Now you are studying your lessons. He will buy you a present then.
She has not done her homework yet. He will pass the test soon.
1) Adverbs of Frequency: They show how often an action happens. (Or they show the
repetition of an action.)

e.g. He always practices his English.

He sometimes studies comic books.
She is never late for the class.

Adverbs of frequency are:

always 100%
usually 75% – 90%
often 60% – 70%
sometimes 40% – 60%
seldom 30% – 40%
never 0%

Note: Adverbs of frequency are used after to be verbs (i.e. is, am, are, etc.), but before the main verbs
(i.e. go, come, read, write, etc.)

be + adverb of frequency
e.g. She is never late.
We are always kind to each other.

adverb of frequency + main verb

e.g. He sometimes reads magazine a lot.
They always come on time to the class.
 2) Adverbs of Sentence: These adverbs are used to modify the meaning of the whole
sentence and usually express the speaker’s opinion. (Like: luckily, surely, definitely, fortunately,
certainly, etc.)
e.g. Fortunately, you are now in Senior Beginner Two.
Definitely, you will learn English very fast.
Luckily, Afghanistan is improving.

3) Adverbs of Degree: These adverbs make the meaning of an adjective or adverb weaker
or stronger than it is. (Like: too, very, fully, almost, nearly, fairly, hardly, rather, etc.)
e.g. I almost passed the entrance exam last year.
He is too brave to talk in public.
She is fully energetic while she is speaking.

4) Interrogative Adverbs: They ask questions. (Like: When? Where? Why?)

e.g. When did you come here?
Where does your brother live?
Why you are studying English?

5) Relative Adverbs: These adverbs join two sentences or clauses. (Like: when, where,
why.)
e.g. This is the room where I am staying in.
This is the reason why he did not talk to you.
Sit very far from TV when you are watching it.

Exercise 1. Choose an adjective or an adverb.

1. Could I have a …………………………………………………word with you? (quick,
quickly)
2. She walked away ………………………………………….. (quick, quickly)
3. This is a ……………………………………………….train- it stops everywhere. (slow,
slowly)
4. He talked very ………………………………………… about his work. (interesting,
interestingly)
5. You have cooked the meat ………………………………….. (beautiful, beautifully)
6. I`ve got an ………………………………………………………..job for you. (easy,
easily)
 7. She writes English …………………………………………………... (perfect,
perfectly)
8. I sing very ……………………………………………………. (bad, badly)
9. I feel …………………………………………………………today. (happy, happily)
10. You seem very ………………………………………………. (angry, angrily)
11. Ann`s a …………………………………………………………swimmer. (strong,
strongly)
12. Could you talk more …………………………………………… please? (quiet,
quietly)

Exercise 2. Put the adverbs in the correct places.

1. I speak French but people know that I’m English. (often, always)
I often speak French but people always know that I`m English.
2. Jake eats fish. He eats fish for breakfast. (always, even)
_______________________________________________________________.
3. Edward puts tomato sauce on everything. He puts it on ice cream. (usually,
never)
_______________________________________________________________________.
4. I forget names. I forget faces. (sometimes, never)
______________________________________________________________________.
5. Jane gets angry, and she shouts at people. (hardly ever, never)
_______________________________________________________________________.
6. I am happy at home, on Fridays I am relaxed. (always, often)
_______________________________________________________________________.
7. I drink tea. I drink coffee. (usually, sometimes)
_______________________________________________________________________.
8. I get to the train station on time, and the train is late. (always, always)
_______________________________________________________________________.
9. Your sister is a good singer. She is a very interesting person. (certainly,
also)
__________________________________________________________________.
10. My mother is asleep. I think she is ill. (still, probably)
___________________________________________________________.

Exercise 3. Correct (√) or not (×)?

 1. He spoke very friendly, but I didn`t like him ……………..
2. You have a lovely smile ………………..
3. He`s not stupid, but he sometimes talks really silly. …………
4. He doesn`t speak English very well, but he write it lovely ………………….
5. I gave her a friendly look, but she turned away. ………………
6. I had a headache very bad ………………….
7. Read this now. …………………
8. She makes wonderfully soup. …………..
9. I spoke to them very slow and clear ……………
10.It snowed very heavy yesterday. ……………………..
11.That secretary isn`t very friendly. ……………………
12.I sing terribly bad. …………………..
13.Your baby looks very happy. …………….
14.I`m sorry I got here very lately. …………………….
15.Fill this form very carefully. …………………..
16.I complete forgot to phone Paul. ………………….
17.She studied very hardly for the exam. ……………………..
18.Everybody spoke perfect English. ……………………………
19.This fish isn`t very well cooked. …………………………….
20.Do you know a hotel good and cheap? …………………

Exercise 4. Adjective or adverb? Circle the correct

answers.
1. You are making a terrible/terribly mistake.
2. She walked up the steps slow/slowly.
3. It was raining very hard/heavily when I got up.
4. The boss is a very friend/friendly person.
5. I cook very bad/badly.
6. Amelia looks very unhappy/unhappily.
7. I`m extreme/extremely sorry. I arrived late/lately.
8. I drove very careful/carefully on the snow.
9. I was late/lately because of a problem with the train.
10.I`ve complete/completely forgotten his name.
11.Your hair looks beautiful/beautifully.
12.He doesn`t work very hard/hardly.
13.I can`t understand her. She talks very unclear/unclearly.
14.The president spoke in perfect/perfectly French.
15.This letter isn`t very good/well written.

Exercise 5. Adverbs with verbs. Write sentences about

yourself.
1. I often …………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. I never
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
 3. I am sometimes
…………………………………………………………………………………….
4. I usually
……………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. I often …………………………………………………………………………………………
6. I never ………………………………………………….……………………………………..
7. I always ………………………………………………………………………………………
8. I am certainly
………………………………………………………………………………………
9. I will probably
……………………………………………………………………………………..
10.I will definitely
…………………………………………………………………………………….

Exercise 6. Adjective or adverb? Circle the correct form.

1. People drive really dangerous/ dangerously.
2. He wrote down the phone number careful / carefully.
3. He left the class abrupt / abruptly.
4. The president speaks English perfect / perfectly.
5. Old people often walk slow / slowly.
6. He always dresses fashion / fashionably.
7. Nowadays most of the students speak English good / well.
8. We’re working hard / hard.
9. He managed it skillful / skillfully.
10.Afghan soldiers fight brave / bravely.

Exercise 7: Underline the adverbs of time in the following

sentences.
1- What did you do yesterday?
2- I took part in a conference last week.
3- You need to tell me the truth as soon as possible.
4- We haven’t seen him recently.
5- The NASA team was able to recover the space capsule last year.
6- The students are working day and night to achieve their goals.
7- He is leaving tomorrow morning.
8- I’m quite busy nowadays, what if we meet next Monday morning.
9- I need to go home immediately.
10-Our team hasn’t won lately.

Exercise 8: Place Adverbs of Frequency correctly in the

following sentences.
 1. Do you wear glasses? Occasionally ______________________________
2. She does housework. Sometimes _____________________________
3. Does it rain in the summer? Often ____________________________
4. What time do you finish your work? Usually ____________________
5. I go to gym. Always ______________________________________
6. Our teacher is happy. Always _______________________________

7. Ali is angry. Hardly ever _______________________________

8. Khatira listens to music. Never ______________________________

9. I am late for class. Rarely _______________________________

10. Do you go to work by bus? Usually ____________________________

Exercise 9: Look at the underlined Adverbs in these sentences. Classify

them as Sentence Adverbs(S), adverbs of frequency (F), Adverbs of
Degree (D), Adverbs of Manner (M), or Adverbs of Time (T).

a. A related issue that has recently become controversial is whether

women should join the military. ______________

b. Basically, I think service should be voluntary. __________

c. Today’s young people are very different from ten years ago. ______

d. I’m really serious about quality. ___

e. Men are sometimes rude. ______

f. I am always happy. _______

g. Luckily, he could pass the test. _________

h. He does his work happily. __________

i. She hasn’t received her payment yet. _______

j. He speaks English very well. ___________