A story of two different dogs
Dog one: Spot ran clumsily, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth in a dopy way. As he ran up the hill with an awkward open-mouth grin, he breathlessly reached the top, and turned around.
Dog two: Maurice trotted up the hill gracefully, his tongue tucked neatly within his closed mouth. As he progressed up the hill with pride, he reached the top, and turned around with a twinkle in his eye.
The two dogs above, Spot and Maurice, have very different personalities. But the underlined portions highlight how adverbs allow the writer to bring the dogs’ actions and descriptions to life. Adverbs are a part of speech that modifies verbs (quickly ran), adjectives (extremely hungry), other adverbs (way too quickly), and even entire sentences. Most adverbs end in -ly, but some adverbs are sneakily common (too fast, very slow) and some adverbs look just like regular adjectives (walked fast).
Adverbs to Describe Verbs: How, When, and Where Actions Occur
Commonly, adverbs modify verbs by adding information to the verb, changing its tone, or providing a unique color, angle, or detail.
- My mom waited patiently for me in the car.
- The basketball team won their game easily.
- I frustratedly threw my controller when I lost the match.
- We happily walked down the street.
In each of the above cases, the italicized adverb modifies the verb’s manner, describing the action, not the person doing the action. How did mom wait? Patiently. How did the team win? Easily. Not only do adverbs describe how an action was performed, but when (I’ve been oversleeping lately) and where (he ran uphill).
Placement Matters: Try to Place the Adverb Close to the Verb it Modifies
In general, place an adverb as close as possible to the verb it modifies. Otherwise, if the adverb gets separated too far from its verb, it might seem to describe something closer to it within the sentence, like a noun or verb you didn’t mean to modify.
- Correct placement: I got to the mall early with my friends.
- Confusing placement: I got to the mall with my friends early. (Early could be describing the friends or the action of getting to the mall.)
- Correct placement: My family watched me hungrily gobble up all the turkey.
- Confusing placement: My family watched me gobble up all the turkey hungrily. (Hungrily could describe the watching or the gobbling.)
Be Mindful of Linking Verbs
Linking verbs, those verbs that link the subject to an adjective or object, include verbs like feel, become, be, show, seem, smell, hear, sound, grow. Since linking verbs link to adjectives, when we use adverbs for these linking verbs, it’s important to make sure the adverb describes the linking verb and doesn’t become the adjective linked by the linking verb.
- Correct, but not an adverb: My hair feels stiff. (In this case, stiff is an adjective for noun hair.)
- Confusing, but is an adverb: My hair feels stiffly. (In this case, stiffly describes the hair’s ability to feel.)
- Correct use of adverb: My hair rarely feels stiff.
- Correct, but not an adverb: I felt bad when I hurt my sister. (In this case, bad is an adjective for I.)
- Confusing, but is an adverb: I felt badly when I hurt my sister. (In this case, badly describes the subject’s ability to feel.)
- Correct use of adverb: I truly felt bad when I hurt my sister.
Remember, with adverbs, placement matters. With adverbs for linking verbs, try to place the adverb right before the linking verb. This will typically ensure that the adverb modifies the linking verb, while still allowing the linking verb to appropriately link the subject with its adjective.
Adverbs to Describe Adjectives
When adverbs describe adjectives, the adverb usually modifies the adjective’s intensity. Many of these adverbs don’t end with -ly, and many don’t seem like adverbs at first.
Common adverbs that precede adjectives include: very, really, rather, quite, too, incredibly, wildly, actually, surprisingly, almost, and always.
- That car goes too fast.
- Your jokes are actually annoying.
- She looks pretty beautiful, I think.
- My father plays tennis quite well.
- I’m rather tired after such a long day.
Adverbs to Describe Other Adverbs
As odd as it may seem, you can use adverbs to modify other adverbs! This can work well when you want to modify the manner in which the adverb is done, or you want to extra-strongly emphasize the intensity of the verb or adjective.
- My basketball team wins games scarily consistently. (The team’s consistency in winning is scary, not the winning itself.)
- She is really quite a beauty. (Really implies unexpectedness, while quite increases intensity.)
- We painted our house surprisingly quickly. (The quickness was surprising, not the action of painting the house).
- He quite intensely yelled at me. (Quite modifies the intensity, which modifies the manner of the yelling.)
- Somewhat nervously, I asked her to go on a date with me. (Somewhat modifies the nervousness, which modifies the manner of asking.)
Adverbs to Describe Entire Sentences
That’s right, some common adverbs modify entire sentences. These adverbs, which usually get placed as the first or last word in a sentence, usually provide an overarching tone that applies to the sentence’s whole message.
Commonly used sentential (whole-sentence) adverbs: luckily, thankfully, happily, conveniently, fortunately, pleasantly, for instance, for example, perhaps, on the other hand, however.
- Fortunately, nobody got hurt in the car accident.
- For example, koalas move very slowly and eat mostly bamboo.
- He and I have been married for decades, thankfully.
- This does not mean that you can eat whatever you want, however.
- Pleasantly, my whole family spent the day walking around on the pier.
Due to some qualms about its true meaning, years ago some writing critics labelled the adverb hopefully as informal grammar. However, enough people nowadays use the word to mean I hope, so you can use it freely without worrying if your reader will judge you for it.
Comparative Adverbs
Most adverbs are absolute adverbs, meaning they modify a verb or adjective fully. However, comparative adverbs use terms like most, more, less, and least to modify the adjective by showing how it compares to other adjectives.
Absolute Adverbs
- She is happily married.
- I finished the race, surprisingly.
Comparative forms of those adverbs:
- She is the most happily married person I’ve ever met.
- I finished the race, less surprisingly than the others.
Superlative, or most extreme comparative form, of those adverbs
- She is the most happily married person I have ever met.
- I finished the race, least surprisingly of any competitor.
Should You Fear Overusing Adverbs?
Some writers warn that too many adverbs can confuse and bore a reader, adding unnecessary complexity and meaningless words that sometimes even detract from a description’s power. Still, adverbs are necessary in writing. As you write, if you find your writing straining for impact and leaning too much on adverbs, take a look at your adjectives and nouns to see if you can strengthen those, or make them more specific.
Sometimes, an adverb really isn’t necessary, and the sentence becomes better without it. Still, when used carefully and meaningfully, adverbs play a critical role in modifying the components of your writing. Write mindfully and you have a fruitful future ahead as a writer.
