Jj is for Jottings 149.  Poor Neglected Adverbs.

Unlike the dreaded apostrophe, which many people underuse and many people overuse, the poor neglected adverbs are in danger of disappearing altogether.  (Although I still have no idea whether the same people underuse as overuse apostrophes, if they’re different people, or a bit of both.  I suspect the third option.)  If you are unclear about where to put an apostrophe, you can find out here.

WHAT IS AN ADVERB?

An adverb is a word which gives more information about a verb (doing word), an adjective, or another adverb.  In other words, they modify verbs – and adjectives and other adverbs, but mostly verbs.  Adverbs answer the questions “how, when or where?”  They can also tell us to what extent something happened.  Just like adjectives, they can turn a basic, boring sentence into something more interesting.  Eg.  The basic sentence “The cat spat.” becomes more interesting when we add an adverb: “The cat spat angrily.”  This answers the question of how the cat spat, which also provides us with more information, not just interest.

As with all grammar, there are the basic rules and then there are complexities, exceptions and other twiddly bits which complicate everything.  We’ll stick to the basic rules, since they cover the majority of daily use.

HOW DO WE FORM ADVERBS?

This is the important part: most adverbs end in –ly and we form them by adding –ly to the adjective.  Examples are:-

Loud  –  loudly.  He had a loud voice (adj).  He spoke loudly (adv).

Sudden  –  suddenly.  There was a sudden eruption (adj).  The volcano erupted suddenly (adv).

Complete  –  completely.  He made a complete mess of it (adj).  He messed it up completely (adv).

Just to make things a bit trickier and to keep you on your toes, some adjectives happen to end in –ly.  Examples are “friendly” (a friendly horse) and “kindly” (a kindly old gentleman).  So if you want to say “He smiled friendlily” – you can’t.  You would have to say that he had a friendly smile or that he smiled in a friendly fashion.  It’s just too clumsy to try and make an adverb out of adjectives ending in –ly.

And to make sure you stay on your toes for even longer, there are common adverbs which are not formed from other words eg. soon, there, then, too, off, quite, very.  I am so glad I didn’t have to learn English as a second language!

KINDS OF ADVERBS.

We classify adverbs in different ways, according to the work they do.

Adverbs of time.

These tell when an action took place: now, later, soon, always, yesterday, tomorrow, often, never, already, then.

The accident happened yesterday.

We shall come soon.

They are arriving now.

Adverbs of place.

They tell where an action occurred: here, there, above, below, under, in, out, near, within, everywhere.

I have been waiting here for half an hour.

The weeds are popping up everywhere.

Adverbs of manner.

These tell how/in what way something happens: slowly, quickly, swiftly, quietly, noisily, well, properly.  Note that these mainly have the –ly ending.

Peter behaved stupidly.

She crept silently towards the door.

Adverbs of degree.

These tell us how much ie. the extent/degree to which something happens: nearly, almost, completely, scarcely, absolutely, very, rather, somewhat, partly, too.

I am absolutely sure it is mine.

He has nearly finished his homework.

(These are the adverbs that modify adjectives and other adverbs, but let’s not get too [adv of degree!] tangled up in complexities.)

Adverbs of number.

These tell how often something took place: once, secondly.

I have broken the same leg twice.

Interrogative adverbs.

Ask questions about time, place, reason, manner etc.  (Think of an interrogation): how, when, where.

Where did they go?

How did that happen?

When are you going on holidays?

Conjunctive adverbs.

These link two or more clauses or sentences: where, when, why, therefore, consequently, however, thus, nevertheless, moreover, yet.

This is the house where I live.

Saturday is when I wash my hair.

It is sunny today, therefore we will eat outside.

I went to the shop to buy new shoes.  However, I came back empty-handed.

Note that we usually think of words like ‘where’ and ‘when’ as asking questions, but that is not always the case.

Modal adverbs.

They modify the verb to show a degree of probability: perhaps, probably, often, always, usually, sometimes, never, not.

Perhaps they will not come.

Sarah is usually late for school.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS.

Just like adjectives, adverbs have three forms: positive, comparative and superlative.

Positive.

This is the ordinary form of the adverb, and applies to one person or object.

Eg. I can run fast.

She sat there quietly.

Comparative.

This compares two people or objects, and we either add –er to the adverb or put more in front of it.

I can run faster than my brother.

She sat there more quietly than her friend.

Superlative.

This compares more than two people or things, and we either add –est to the adverb or put most in front of it.

I can run the fastest in the whole school.

She sat there most quietly in the whole group.

When to use –er and –est versus more and most.

Most adverbs have two or more syllables (because we have added –ly to make the adverb in the first place), and that is when we use more and most.

Bravely    more bravely    most bravely

We form adverbs of only one syllable in the same way as comparing adjectives, with –er and –est.

Soon     sooner    soonest

Good    better    best

(I realise now that I haven’t said very much about syllables in any posts, but you can get a short definition here under the Phonological Awareness section.)

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT “POOR NEGLECTED ADVERBS”?

There is an increasing tendency for many people to use adjectives instead of adverbs, and it is snowballing.

“James fell over and his knee was real sore.”  Ugh.  Incorrect.

“James fell over and his knee was really sore.”  Sigh of relief.  Correct.

I am constantly correcting people on television, saying “-ly” when they have used adjectives instead of adverbs. The prevalence of this incorrect usage has markedly increased in a very short space of time.  That’s not a statistic, just my observation.  Of course, if you hear it all around you all the time, it doesn’t sound wrong.  It’s a bit like what people get used to in fashion.  I distinctly remember when, many years ago, jeans were straight-legged.  Then the fashion for flares came in.  Flares looked all wrong to me and, I suspect, many others.  Of course we got used to them and, when the fashion went full circle and straight legs came back in, they looked wrong.

“What does it matter?” you are probably thinking.  Well, as I have said in other posts, I believe that it is always best to aim higher rather than lower in every aspect of life.  If we aim higher, we have covered all bases and can operate at any level that is appropriate in any given moment.  But if we are functioning at a lower level, then we are locked out of whatever exists above our level of functioning. Rightly or wrongly, people often judge us on such things.  Say you were applying for a job and the employer had narrowed it down to two people with the same qualifications.  It’s very likely that incorrect use of grammar would be the deciding factor.

Sloppy Use of Language.

In the case of using adjectives rather than adverbs, sloppy use of language will probably not affect the meaning.  However there are many other areas of language in which sloppy use does alter the meaning.  I had an example of that a few days ago:

In a discussion with someone during which we held opposing views, he asserted something in two words.  I responded to that utterance, and he couldn’t make sense of my response.  He restated the two words, but changed one.  I quoted his original two words and said that is what I was responding to.  He said they were the same thing.  But they weren’t.  Then he said it didn’t matter.  But it did.  His sloppy use of language wasted several minutes and fuelled disagreement.  If we communicate clearly and precisely, then life is more harmonious, and we can move on to the next topic or the next activity. Which is surely better than being bogged down in time-wasting and energy-draining efforts to repair the conversation.

There’s another reason to use adverbs correctly – it saves much irritation for poor little pedants like me. There are plenty of us around!

Permalink: Check out the Facebook page: Aa is for Alpacas.