An adverb is a word or an expression that modifies a verb, adjective, another

adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time,
frequency, degree, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to
what extent?.
Adverbial phrase ("AdvP") is a multi-word expression operating adverbially: its syntactic function is
to modify other expressions, including verbs, adjectives, adverbs, adverbials, and sentences.

An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb.[1] That is, the entire clause
modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb[citation needed]. As with all clauses, it contains
a subject and predicate, though the subject as well as the (predicate) verb may sometimes be
omitted and implied (see below).[2]

An adverbial clause is similar to, but not the same as, an adverbial phrase. Both are groups of
words that play the adverb role, but with one key difference: An adverbial clause contains a
subject and a verb, while an adverbial phrase does not.
The English word adverb derives (through French) from Latin adverbium,
from ad- ("to"), verbum ("word", "verb"), and the nominal suffix -ium. The term implies that the
principal function of adverbs is to act as modifiers of verbs or verb phrases.

Adverbs can also modify determiners, prepositional phrases,[1] or whole clauses or sentences, as in
the following examples:

 I bought practically the only fruit (practically modifies the determiner the in the noun
phrase, "the only fruit" wherein "only" is an adjective)
 She drove us almost to the station (almost modifies the prepositional phrase to the
station)
 Certainly we need to act (certainly modifies the sentence as a whole)
Adverbs thus perform a wide range of modifying functions. The major exception is the function of
modifier of nouns, which is performed instead by adjectives (compare she sang loudly with her loud
singing disturbed me; here the verb sang is modified by the adverb loudly, whereas the
noun singing is modified by the adjective loud). However, because some adverbs and adjectives
are homonyms, their respective functions are sometimes conflated:

 Even numbers are divisible by two

 The camel even drank.
The word "even" in the first sentence is an adjective, since it is a prepositive modifier that modifies
the noun "numbers". The word "even" in the second sentence is a prepositive adverb that modifies
the verb "drank."
Although it is possible for an adverb to precede or to follow a noun or a noun phrase, the adverb
nonetheless does not modify either in such cases, as in:

 Internationally there is a shortage of protein for animal feeds

 There is a shortage internationally of protein for animal feeds
 There is an international shortage of protein for animal feeds
In the first sentence, "Internationally" is a prepositive adverb that modifies the clause, "there is ..." In
the second sentence, "internationally" is a postpositive adverb that modifies the clause, "There is ..."
By contrast, the third sentence contains "international" as a prepositive adjective that modifies the
noun, "shortage."
Adverbs can sometimes be used as predicative expressions; in English, this applies especially to
adverbs of location:

 Here is my boarding pass (wherein "boarding pass" is the subject and "here" is the
predicate in a syntax that entails a subject-verb inversion).
When the function of an adverb is performed by an expression consisting of more than one word, it
is called an adverbial phrase or adverbial clause, or simply an adverbial.

CLASSES of ADVERBS

Adverb of Frequency
In English grammar, an adverb of frequency is an adverb that tells
how often something occurs or did occur. Common adverbs of
frequency include always, frequently, hardly ever, never, occasionally,
often, rarely, regularly, scarcely, seldom, sometimes, and usually.

Adverb of Time
Adverbs of time tell us when an action happened, but also for how long, and how often.
Adverbs of time are invariable. They are extremely common in English. Adverbs of time have
standard positions in a sentence depending on what the adverb of time is telling us.

Adverb of Place
An adverb of place is always used to talk about the location where the action of the verb is
being carried out. Adverbs of place are normally placed after a sentence's object or main verb.
Adverbs of place can be directional.

Adverb of Manner
Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. They are usually placed either after the
main verb or after the object.

Adverb of Degree
Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity of something. Adverbs of degree are usually
placed before the adjective, adverb, or verb that they modify, although there are some
exceptions. The words "too", "enough", "very", and "extremely" are examples of adverbs of
degree

Adverb of Conjunction
A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is an adverb that
connects two clauses by converting the clause it introduces into an adverbial modifier of
the verb in the main clause.

COMPARISON
Adverbs may undergo comparison, taking comparative and superlative forms. In English this is
usually done by adding more and most before the adverb (more slowly, most slowly), although there
are a few adverbs that take inflected forms, such as well, for which better and best are used.

Special uses of some adverbs

Short and shortly

Short is used as an adverb in expressions like stop short (= stop suddenly)

and cut short (= interrupt)

Shortly means ‘soon’.

 You will hear from us shortly.

Slow and slowly

Slow is an adjective; slowly is an adverb. However, slow can be used as an
adverb after verbs like go and drive.

 Go slow.

Sound and soundly

Sound is used as an adverb in a few expressions. Example: sound asleep.

 The baby is sound asleep.

In other cases we usually use soundly.

 The baby is sleeping soundly.

Straight

Straight is used both as an adjective and as an adverb.

 A straight road goes straight from one place to another.

Tight and tightly

Tight is an adjective; tightly is an adverb. After certain verbs, tight can also
be used as an adverb.

Common expressions are: hold tight and packed tight. Note that before a
verb, we always use tightly.

Tightly held

Tightly packed

Wrong and wrongly

The normal adverb is wrongly. In an informal style, wrong can be used

instead of wrongly after a verb.

 I wrongly believed that I was going in the right direction.

 You guessed wrong.
Suggestions and Cautions

 If a word is not easy to classify as a noun, verb, or adjective,

it is probably an adverb. Some of the most common words in
English are adverbs, including up, so, just, then, how, now,
also, here, and more.

 Adverbs usually describe verbs. They express when, how,

where, and why an action is done. Many adverbs are easy to
find because they have the –ly ending, such as quickly,
surely, and certainly. However, many adverbs do not have
the –ly ending.

 Adverbs can also describe adjectives. For example, "It is really

cold today." In this example, really is an adverb that describes
the adjective cold.
 Adverbs can describe other adverbs. For example, "I will
probably never go back." Here, the adverb probably describes
the adverb never.

Adjectives describe nouns, while adverbs describe verbs,

adjectives, and other adverbs. Take the sentence, "She is careful."
The adjective careful is describing the noun she. But if you said,
"She walks carefully," the adverb carefully is describing the
verb walk.
 1. Rodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, A Student's Introduction to English Grammar,
CUP 2005, p. 122ff.
2. ^ For example: Thomas Edward Payne, Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field
Linguists, CUP 1997, p. 69.
3. ^ Huddleston, Rodney (1988). English Grammar: An Outline. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. p. 7. doi:10.2277/0521311527. ISBN 0-521-32311-8.
4. ^ Cinque, Guglielmo. 1999. Adverbs and functional heads—a cross linguistic perspective.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. ^ Haegeman, Liliane. 1995. The syntax of negation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres
6. The Survey of English Usage 1996-1998
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