8

Adverbs

You’ve been lied to about adverbs.

Sorry. I know that’s not fun to hear. But if a teacher told you that adverbs modify verbs and left it at that, she or he fell down on the job. If you were told that adverbs end in ly, your teacher loses some points there, too. On the other hand, if you were taught that adverbs sometimes end in ly and that they also modify adjectives and other adverbs, that’s a little better. But it’s still not enough for you to fully understand adverbs.

Here are just a few of the adverbs that your teachers probably never explained:

therefore

pretty

too

tomorrow

outside

indeed

there

very

clockwise

early

west

forward

crosswise

everywhere

never

If you find some of these hard to believe, check a dictionary. You’ll see that all these are classed as adverbs, even though most have other jobs, too. Early, for example, is an adjective when it modifies a noun (an early meeting), but it’s an adverb when it’s used in a manner like He woke up early. However is classed as a conjunction when it links clauses, but it’s right there in the dictionary as an adverb in a context like Do the job however you like. West is often a noun, as in the West, or an adjective, as in the west wall. But often it’s an adverb: go west.

So these words and many more like them are at times adverbs. Yet they’re a far cry from the adverbs like slowly, happily, and nicely that we all learned about in school.

So what, exactly, is an adverb?

Here’s a simplistic definition: an adverb is a word that answers the question “When?” “Where?” or “In what manner?” or that modifies a whole clause. For a more thorough definition, add “To what degree?” and “How frequently?”

Let’s look at each of these criteria for adverbs. Start with the following examples:

I’ll see you tomorrow.

(Adverb tomorrow answers the question “When?”)

Zach is outside.

(Adverb outside answers the question “Where?”)

The plan was executed beautifully.

(Adverb beautifully answers the question “In what manner?”)

This plate is very hot.

(Adverb very answers the question “To what degree?”)

Unfortunately, we’re out of ice cream.

(Adverb unfortunately modifies the whole clause.)

Furthermore, we concluded that no action was necessary.

(Adverb furthermore modifies the whole clause.)

As you can see, adverbs do a lot more than tell you whether Billy ran quickly or whether Susie sings beautifully. Those types of adverbs—the ones that describe actions and often end in ly—are called manner adverbs. The types we see in the last two examples are called sentence adverbs because they modify the sentence (or, more precisely, a clause). Within the category of sentence adverbs we have what are called conjunctive adverbs, which include furthermore and therefore. They’re so-named because they join clauses while adding information like the logical connection between the ideas.

Most of the time, when you’re looking at a word and can’t figure out what part of speech it is, it’s probably an adverb. You can find out for sure with a quick check of a dictionary. Just remember to read all the entries for the word because many words qualify as multiple parts of speech.

Adverbs Versus Adverbials

Adverb is a word class and adverbial is a function. Adverbs are usually adverbials in a sentence. But other parts of speech can be adverbials, too. An example we saw earlier compared Tuesday and tomorrow. They function identically in a sentence.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

I’ll see you Tuesday.

Yet most dictionaries don’t class Tuesday as an adverb the way they do tomorrow. This is purely a result of lexicographers’ assessment that Tuesday, based on how it’s used, isn’t quite as qualified for admission into the adverb club, even though tomorrow is.

So in the example above, Tuesday is a noun. But it’s functioning as an adverbial by answering the question “When?”

Even more common than nouns functioning as adverbials are prepositional phrases functioning as adverbials.

Leave your bike outside.

Leave your bike in the yard.

Notice how in these examples outside and in the yard function in an identical manner. They both answer the question “Where?” But while outside is a member of the word class known as adverb, the whole phrase in the yard can’t be part of a word class because it’s a whole prepositional phrase. Yet because it’s answering the question “Where?” it’s also an adverbial.

Adverb Functions: Postmodifiers, Premodifiers, and Adverbials

The iconic adverbs we learned about in school often come after the verb. So we say they are postmodifiers of the verb.

Grandma walks slowly.

(Adverb slowly postmodifies the verb walks.)

Jeremy laughs loudly.

(Adverb loudly postmodifies the verb laughs.)

Brett angers easily.

(Adverb easily postmodifies the verb angers.)

A premodifier is also self-explanatory: it’s a word that comes before another word and modifies it. Adverbs can function as premodifiers of adjectives or other adverbs.

That was a really great movie.

(Adverb really premodifies adjective great.)

She sings very beautifully.

(Adverb very premodifies adverb beautifully.)

Many of the adverbs that work as premodifiers of adjectives and adverbs answer the question “To what degree?” They include too, very, unbelievably, slightly, exceptionally, totally, and many similar words.

But adverbs don’t always come right before or after a word they modify precisely because they don’t always modify individual words. Adverbials add information about when, where, and degree to the whole clause. They inform the whole clause with spatial, temporal, or degree information.

Put it here.

(Adverb here is answering the question “Where?”)

Do it now.

(Adverb now is answering the question “When?”)

But don’t forget that adverbs aren’t the only things that can serve as adverbials. As we’ve seen, prepositional phrases (Put it in the drawer) and even nouns (Do it Tuesday) can do the same.

Adjuncts, Conjuncts, Disjuncts

We can break up adverbials into three groups: adjuncts, conjuncts, and disjuncts.

Adjuncts are integral to the sentence. You can’t just lift them out. They’re part of the core clause. For example, in Put it here the adverb here can’t be taken out of the sentence. You’d end up with Put it, which loses substantial meaning. You need the adverbial here for the sentence to make sense and to be structurally sound.

Conjuncts, on the other hand, are optional modifiers of whole clauses or sentences. They create logical connections between thoughts: however, therefore, consequently, and nevertheless are a few examples of conjuncts. Conjuncts can be adverbs like additionally or they can be phrases or clauses, such as in addition to.

Conjuncts can link clauses within a single sentence, often with the help of a semicolon, or they can link the idea of one sentence with that of the prior sentence.

Maddie wants a car; however, she doesn’t want to save for one.

Maddie wants a car. However, she doesn’t want to save for one.

Disjuncts, like conjuncts, are essentially sentence adverbs, but they don’t logically link the clauses together the way conjuncts do. Instead, they provide overview information such as commentary to the whole clause or sentence.

Honestly, I don’t know why you bother.

Frankly, it’s none of your business.

Truly, he is insane.

Again, these jobs can be done by either adverbs or other units, especially prepositional phrases, functioning as adverbials.

To be honest, I don’t know why you bother.

To be frank, it’s none of your business.

To be truthful, he is insane.

Adjectives, Not Adverbs, with Copular Verbs

It’s a common error to use adverbs after copular verbs, most often seen in the sentence I feel badly. Unless you’re speaking idiomatically, that should be I feel bad. People make this mistake because they’re thinking of the basic rule that says that adverbs modify verbs. But that rule doesn’t apply when you’re dealing with copular verbs, which express being, seeming, appearing, becoming, or the five senses.

These verbs, instead of expressing action, point back to the subject. Because the subject is a noun phrase, it’s modified with an adjective and not an adverb.

I am happy.

(Not I am happily.)

She seems nice.

(Not She seems nicely.)

Dinner smells good.

(Not Dinner smells well.)

I feel bad.

(Not I feel badly.)

Granted, feel isn’t intuitive like the other examples. You have to take it on faith that when you mean you feel guilty or sympathetic, you’re using the copular form. Obviously, it’s possible to modify the action of feeling, too, and that would call for an adverb. But that’s not usually what people mean.

Other Situations Calling for Adjectives after Verbs

Another common adverb error involves forms like They sliced the meat thinly or They dug too deeply. The former should be They sliced the meat thin and the latter, you could argue, would be better as They dug too deep.

In situations like these, the choice of an adverb or adjective has more to do with meaning than with syntactical structure. If you can find a way to go about slicing in a thin manner, then you can indeed do this activity thinly. But simple logic suggests that you’re modifying the meat, not the action.

To dig deep is more ambiguous. The thing that’s deep is, presumably, a literal or metaphorical hole being dug. But you could perceive that the act of digging is what’s being modified, in which case dig deeply is also acceptable.