Adverbs

 

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that describe or modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. They are different from adjectives in that adjectives can only modify nouns, but not other words.

Below are the most common types of adverbs you will encounter.   

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe how an action is performed or the manner in which something happens. They often end in “-ly” and modify verbs.

Adverbs of Manner	Meaning	Example Sentence
abruptly	suddenly or quickly, without warning	She stopped talking abruptly when the teacher entered the classroom.
accidentally	by mistake or unintentionally	He accidentally spilled his drink on the table.
angrily	in a way that shows strong displeasure or irritation	The little girl stomped her feet angrily when she couldn't have a cookie.
anxiously	nervously or with worry	He waited anxiously for the test results.
awkwardly	in a clumsy or uncomfortable manner	He tried to dance, but he moved awkwardly on the dance floor.
badly	poorly or in an unsatisfactory way	She played the piano badly, hitting the wrong keys.
beautifully	in a way that is very pleasing or attractive	The flowers bloomed beautifully in the garden.
boldly	fearlessly or with confidence	He spoke boldly in front of a large audience.
briskly	quickly and energetically	The old man walked briskly in the park every morning.
carefully	with great attention or caution	She handled the fragile vase carefully.
cheerfully	in a happy and positive manner	The children sang cheerfully during the school performance.
clearly	in a way that is easy to understand or see	She spoke slowly and clearly so everyone could hear.
closely	near or in proximity to something	The cat followed the mouse closely.
curiously	in a way that shows interest or wanting to know more	The little boy looked curiously at the strange object.
deliberately	intentionally or on purpose	He deliberately stayed up late to finish his project.
differently	in a way that is not the same as others	Each person approached the problem differently.
eagerly	with enthusiasm or excitement	The children eagerly opened their presents on Christmas morning.
easily	without difficulty or effortlessly	She solved the puzzle easily.
efficiently	in a way that gets things done well and quickly	The new system allowed them to work more efficiently.
elegantly	gracefully or with refinement	The ballerina moved elegantly across the stage.
enthusiastically	with great interest and excitement	The fans cheered enthusiastically for their favorite team.
fearfully	in a scared or afraid manner	The child looked fearfully at the dark room.
freely	without restraint or restriction	The birds flew freely in the sky.
graciously	in a polite and courteous manner	She graciously thanked her host for the delicious dinner.
happily	in a joyful or contented manner	The children played happily in the park.
hesitantly	with uncertainty or reluctance	She answered hesitantly when asked about her plans.
honestly	in a truthful and sincere manner	He honestly admitted his mistake.
hungrily	full of hunger	The child hungrily ate their food.
incredibly	to a remarkable or unbelievable degree	The magician performed incredibly impressive tricks.
indifferently	without interest or concern	She shrugged indifferently at the news.
joyfully	in a joyful and happy manner	They danced joyfully at the celebration.
lazily	in a relaxed or idle manner	The cat stretched lazily in the sun.
loudly	in a high volume or noisy manner	The kids laughed loudly at the funny joke.
lovingly	with affection or care	She hugged her pet lovingly.
nervously	in a worried or anxious manner	He tapped his fingers nervously on the table.
patiently	with tolerance and endurance	She waited patiently for her friend to arrive.
politely	in a respectful and courteous manner	He said politely, "Please, may I have some water?"
powerfully	with strength or force	The athlete threw the discus powerfully in the competition.
quickly	in a fast or speedy manner	She ran quickly to catch the bus.
quietly	in a low volume or hushed manner	The librarian reminded everyone to speak quietly in the library.
rapidly	in a fast and speedy way	The water flowed rapidly down the river.
reluctantly	with hesitation or unwillingness	He reluctantly agreed to help with the chores.
rudely	in an impolite or disrespectful manner	The customer spoke rudely to the waiter.
sadly	in a sorrowful or unhappy manner	She looked sadly at the old photograph.
seriously	in a sincere or solemn way.	He seriously asked for advice about his future career.
silently	in a quiet or noiseless manner.	The ninja moved silently through the darkness.
sincerely	with genuine honesty or authenticity	She expressed her gratitude sincerely in the thank-you note.
slowly	in a leisurely or unhurried manner	He walked slowly through the park, enjoying the scenery.
smoothly	in a fluid and even way	The car glided smoothly along the highway.
softly	in a gentle or quiet manner.	She whispered softly to avoid waking the baby.
thoughtfully	in a reflective and considerate manner	He gazed at the painting thoughtfully, pondering its meaning.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time indicate when or how often an action takes place.

Adverbs of Time	Meaning	Example Sentence
ago	in the past; before the present time	He left the house five minutes ago.
daily	occurring or done every day	The newspaper is delivered to our house daily.
early	before the expected time; at or near the beginning	She woke up early to catch the first bus.
eventually	after some time or at a later point; in the end	With hard work, he eventually learned to play the guitar.
frequently	happening often; at frequent intervals	The teacher frequently praises students for their good work.
later	at a time subsequent to the present or an earlier time	We will have dinner later when Dad comes home.
monthly	happening or done once a month	They pay their rent monthly.
never	not at any time; not ever	She never eats spicy food because she doesn't like it.
now	at the present moment; immediately	We're busy now, but we can talk later.
often	many times; frequently	He often goes for a walk in the evening.
once	on one occasion only; one time	I saw that movie once, and I really enjoyed it.
rarely	not often; infrequently	They rarely go out to eat at fancy restaurants.
recently	not long ago; in the recent past	I saw her at the mall recently.
seldom	rarely; not often	They seldom visit their relatives who live far away.
sometimes	occasionally; now and then	Sometimes I like to take a long walk in the park.
soon	in a short time; before long	The movie will start soon, so get your popcorn ready.
still	up to and including the present or the time mentioned	It's late, but she's still working on her homework.
then	at that time; afterward	We went to the beach, and then we had a picnic.
today	on the present day; this day	Today is a beautiful day for a picnic.
tomorrow	on the day following the present day	We will visit the zoo tomorrow.
usually	in most cases; generally	He usually wears a hat when it's sunny outside.
weekly	happening or done once a week	The students have a weekly spelling test.
yesterday	on the day before the present day	She watched a movie at the cinema yesterday.
yet	until now; so far	Have you finished your homework yet?

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place indicate where an action takes place or the location of something. They answer questions like “where.”

Adverbs of Place	Meaning	Example Sentence
abroad	in a foreign country or overseas	My friend is studying abroad in France to learn French.
above	at a higher position	Hang the picture above the sofa, please.
away	at a distance from a particular place	The nearest restroom is just a short walk away from here.
backward	in the opposite direction to usual	He fell backward when he slipped on the wet floor.
below	at a lower position	The keys are below the bookshelf, on the small table.
beside	next to or by the side of something	Please sit beside me; there's an empty chair here.
between	in the space separating two objects or locations	The playground is between the school and the park.
beyond	at a point or place further away than another	The mountains are beyond the river; we can't see them from here.
close	at a short distance away	The supermarket is close to my house, so I often shop there.
downstairs	on or to a lower floor or level in a building	The kitchen is downstairs, where we prepare meals.
east	in the direction of the East	The sun rises in the east every morning.
far	at a considerable distance away	The park is far from here, so we need to take the bus.
here	in or at this place	Come here and sit next to me.
home	at one's place of residence	I can't wait to go home and relax after school.
in front of	facing or ahead of something	The playground is in front of the school building.
inside	within the limits or boundaries of something	It's raining outside, so let's stay inside the house.
nearby	at a short distance away	There's a nice café nearby where we can have coffee.
north	in the direction of the North	Canada is north of the United States.
on top of	positioned over or above something	Place the vase on top of the table.
outside	beyond the limits or boundaries of something	The children are playing outside in the garden.
sideways	in a direction to the side; horizontally	The crab moved sideways along the sandy beach.
south	in the direction of the South	It's warmer in the south during the winter.
there	in or at that place	The bus stop is over there, near the big tree.
under	positioned below or beneath something	The cat is hiding under the bed.
upstairs	on or to a higher floor or level in a building	My room is upstairs, on the second floor.
west	in the direction of the West	The sun sets in the west, painting the sky orange.
within	inside the boundaries or limits of something	The keys are within the drawer.
without	outside the boundaries or limits of something	You can't play outside without your jacket; it's cold.
yonder	at or in a distant place	Look yonder, where the mountains meet the sky.

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree modify adjectives or other adverbs to indicate the intensity, extent or degree of something. They answer questions like “how much” or “to what extent.”

Adverbs of Degree	Meaning	Example Sentence
almost	nearly; not quite	The bus is almost full.
barely	only just; almost not	She barely passed the exam.
completely	totally; entirely	The project was completely successful.
entirely	wholly; completely	The book was entirely different from the movie.
extremely	to a very high degree	The view from the mountain top was extremely beautiful.
fairly	reasonably; moderately	The price of the product was fairly affordable.
hardly	barely; almost not at all	The room was so dark; I could hardly see anything.
highly	to a great extent; with much praise	He is highly skilled at playing the guitar.
just	exactly; precisely	He arrived just in time for the meeting.
merely	only; simply	It's merely a suggestion, not a requirement.
mostly	mainly; for the most part	The day was mostly sunny.
nearly	close to; almost	We are nearly there.
partially	to some extent; not completely	The task was only partially completed.
quite	to a moderate extent; somewhat	The movie was quite interesting.
rather	somewhat; to a certain extent	The dress was rather expensive.
really	truly; in actuality	She is really talented at singing.
simply	merely; only	She simply forgot about the meeting.
slightly	to a small extent; somewhat	The coffee is slightly bitter.
too	to an excessive extent	The water was too cold to swim.
utterly	completely; totally	The idea was utterly ridiculous.
very	to a great extent or high degree	The cake was very delicious.

Adverbs of Certainty

Adverbs of certainty indicate the level of certainty or doubt about an action or statement.

Adverbs of Certainty	Meaning	Example Sentence
absolutely	completely or without a doubt	"I absolutely love ice cream!"
certainly	without a doubt or definitely	"Can you help me with my homework?" " Certainly!"
definitely	certainly or for sure	It will definitely rain later, so take an umbrella.
inevitably	unavoidably or bound to happen	With such dark clouds, rain is inevitably coming.
invariably	always or without changing	The bakery's pastries are invariably delicious.
likely	probably or with a good chance of happening	It's likely to snow tomorrow, so wear warm clothes.
maybe	possibly or perhaps	I'm not sure yet; maybe I'll go to the party.
may	used to express permission or possibility	May I use your phone to make a call?
might	used to express possibility or uncertainty	I might go to the park later if the weather is nice.
must	used to express necessity or strong certainty	You must finish your chores before you can play.
perhaps	possibly or maybe	Perhaps we'll see each other again someday.
probably	most likely or likely to happen	It will probably be sunny tomorrow, so bring your sunglasses.
surely	with confidence or undoubtedly	You will surely enjoy the movie; it's very funny.
unquestionably	without a doubt or certainly	The team's victory was unquestionably well-deserved.
undeniably	without a doubt or unquestionably	The view from the top of the mountain is undeniably beautiful.
undoubtedly	without question or certainly	The little boy is undoubtedly excited about his birthday.

Miscellaneous

The words below can serve multiple purposes and may be categorized differently depending on context. We will focus on the most common uses of each word below.

not 

The word not helps express negation. It explains the absence of a thing, action, state of being, etc.

It will not rain today. 

She is not at work. 

n’t

Okay, here is a weird one.

No native English speaker would tell you that n’t is a word. However, since it is used so frequently to show negation, it gets its own space in the Corpus of Contemporary American English word list.

Adding n’t to the end of words shows when not is being used as a contraction.

When combining not with another word, not is shortened to n’t. It is then added onto the end of the other word. This creates a new word.

For example, the two words is and not are combined to make the contraction isn’t.

I can’t study today. 

My mail hasn’t arrived.