2. 1.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs.
Verb He sings beautifully
Adjective His voice is beautifully
deep.
Adverb He sings beautifully well.
3. 1.
Some adverbs also modify whole
sentences. These are called sentence
adverbs (also called viewpoint adverbs).
Common sentence adverbs are actually,
basically, certainly, clearly, definitely,
essentially, fortunately, hopefully, obviously,
overall, maybe, perhaps, possibly and surely.
For a list of sentence adverbs, see Appendix
19 on page A-9.
4. 1.
Examples:
fortunately Fortunately, Bill’s military service paid for
his college education.
obviously He obviously would have had to borrow
money for college if he hadn’t joined the
military.
definitely This is definitely one of the most difficult
courses I have ever taken.
clearly Most Americans have clearly never learned
much about other countries.
perhaps We will have a quiz tomorrow, perhaps.
*hopefully Hopefully, this won’t be on the final exam.
5. 1.
Some adverbs can function either as
sentence adverbs or as simple adverbs.
Clearly, he is a very good speaker.
(sentence adverb that modifies the entire
idea—it is clear that he is a very good speaker.
He speaks clearly.
(not a sentence adverb, but a simple adverb
that modifies speaks)
6. 1.
The position of a sentence adverb is very flexible:
Basically, I’m in favor of that.
I’m in favor of that, basically.
I’m basically in favor of that.
I basically am in favor of that = I basically agree with
the plan.
I have always basically agreed with that.
I basically have always agreed with that.
I have basically always agreed with that.
7. 2.
Focus adverbs focus attention on a word
or phrase. These adverbs usually
precede the word or phrase focused on.
Common focus adverbs are even, just,
only and almost.
8. 2.
Examples:
even Even I believe that.
I even believe that.
just I just love that movie.
I love just that movie, but not the other
ones that Johnny Depp has made.
*only He only finished his paper this morning.
He finished his paper only this morning.
almost My son is almost ten.
I almost forgot his birthday.
9. 2.
Note: Changing the position of a focus adverb
often changes the meaning of the sentence.
Just teenagers can attend the meetings.
(focuses on teenagers – they are the only ones who
can attend the meetings.
Teenagers can just attend the meetings.
(focuses on attend – they are not allowed to attend
other things.)
10. *3.
Negative adverbs include hardly, in no
way, (informal no way), little, neither,
never, not only, only, rarely and seldom.
In sentences or clauses beginning with a
negative adverb, put the verb or auxiliary
before the word that you want to stress.
11. 3.
For example
Women are required to serve in the military only in
Israel.
He is seldom on time.
Women rarely make a career of the military.
We should not only allow that, but also encourage it.
I had never heard such a strange idea.
Women have seldom served in combat = Women
seldom have served in combat.
12. 3. A focus adverb can be placed at the beginning of
the sentence, followed by “question” word order for
subject and verb. This is a formal pattern.
Informal Formal
Women are required to serve in the
military only in Israel.
Only in Israel are women required
to serve in the military.
He is seldom on time. Seldom is he on time.
Women rarely make a career of
the military.
Rarely do women make a career
of the military.
We should not only allow that but
also encourage it.
Not only should we allow that but
also encourage it.
I had never heard such a strange
idea.
Never had I heard such a strange
idea.
Women have seldom served in
combat = Women seldom have
served in combat.
Seldom have women served in
combat.
13. 3.
However, neither is followed by “question”
word order in both formal and informal
English.
My grandfather never served in the military,
and neither did my father.
A: I don’t agree with that statement.
B: Neither do I.
14. 4.
Here and there are other adverbs that force
inversion (or question order) when they come
at the beginning of a sentence.
Here is your money.
There goes the bus.
15. 4.
Be careful! In a sentence beginning with here
or there, you can invert the noun or not.
Don’t invert them if it is a pronoun.
Here comes the bus.
Here the bus comes.
**Here it comes.
**Here comes it.