UNDERSTANDING ADVERBS

Task One
Task Two
Task Three
Task Four
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Understanding adverbs is an important reading skill because adverbs serve several different functions. They modify words, phrases and sentences; they may convey the attitude and opinions of the writer and others; they add important details and sometimes vivid description.

Adverbs in English provide details about:

Task One

Drag the following adverbs into the correct sentence and then write what it is the adverb gives details about. Choose from the words in the boxes above.

I’ve been coming here for many years. (Where)
The doctors told Mrs Bryant that her husband’s condition had improved significantly. (How much)
In this match Federer proved to be stronger psychologically than his opponent. (How)
He has said repeatedly that he will not retire from football until he’s 35. (How often)
The new smartphone recently launched by Samsung is lighter and thinner. (When)
My aunt obviously liked the cake, because she ate it extremely quickly and helped herself to another slice. (How certain)

Adverbs are used to modify	1) verbs	recently launched
	2) adjectives	stronger psychologically
	3) other adverbs	extremely quickly

Types of Adverbs

There are at least 6 different types of adverbs

	TIME
	PLACE
ADVERBS OF	FREQUENCY
	MANNER
	DEGREE
	CERTAINTY

Task Two

Complete the chart below with the following adverbs. The starred adverbs have already been put into the chart to help you.

here	fortunately*	repeatedly	scarcely	likely	nowadays
necessarily	significantly	psychologically	outside	never*	probably*
obviously	basically*	everywhere*	normally	upstairs	next
afterwards*	tightly	just	recently	fundamentally	maybe

I could scarcely believe it when she told me she was pregnant.
Scarcely means ‘almost not’ or only just’.

Jews and Christians have fundamentally different views about Jesus.
Fundamentally means ‘in a basic and important way’.

The MTR trains are often tightly packed with people.
Here tightly means ‘closely’.

		Adverbs
Time	Place	Frequency	Manner	Degree	Certainty
afterwards	everywhere	never	fortunately	basically	probably
recently	here	normally	necessarily	just*	likely
nowadays	outside	scarcely	psychologically	fundamentally	obviously
next	upstairs	repeatedly	tightly	significantly	maybe

*The adverb ‘just’ could also be understood from the perspective of time.

Task Three

Read the article below, decide which of these adverbs fits into each of the gaps and type your answers in. Some adverbs occur more than once. Make sure that you read the whole paragraph and not just the sentence with the missing adverb, because often you will only get the right answer if you understand the relationships between the sentences in the paragraph.

fortunately	normally	fundamentally	next	likely	significantly
just	psychologically	repeatedly	tightly	basically	obviously
necessarily

BBC Future
14 January 2013

ARE WE NATURALLY GOOD OR BAD?
Tom Stafford

Reprinted with permission from the BBC - future (bbc.com/future)

Answers:

1) repeatedly
2) Fundamentally/Basically
3) repeatedly
4) fundamentally/basically
5) fundamentally/basically

Answers:

6) Normally
7) Fortunately
8) necessarily (‘just’ is possible, but more natural in spoken English)

Answers:

9) basically
10) Next

Answers:

11) psychologically
12) just/basically

Answers:

13) likely

Answers:

14) significantly 15) obviously

Answers:

16) tightly

Adverbs and Adjectives ending in –ly

Many adverbs, as you have seen here, end in –ly. This is true of all types of adverb, but it is particularly common with adverbs of manner and adverbs of degree.

Task Four

However, occasionally, adjectives also end in –ly and it is important for comprehension purposes not to confuse the two. Look again at the text in Task Three. Identify the two adjectives that end in –ly and write them in the box below.

Answers:

wobbly
friendly

What next?

The same text – Are we naturally good or bad? - is also used to practise and explore understanding main ideas. What you have done so far will help you with this next task. Go to the set of materials called ‘Understanding Main Ideas: Are we really good or bad?’ to develop your reading skills further.