by R. S. Karunaratne

Parts of speech:

Adverbs are words that add something more to the meaning of verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. There are seven types of adverbs in English.

1. Adverbs of time

These answer the question “when?” They are usually placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. Words such as “before, now, since, then, already, soon” and “seldom” indicate the adverbs of time.

There will be an election soon.

I have read this novel before.

Where are you staying now?

The library has long since been demolished.

They were living in India then.

I have already seen The Titanic, so let’s see some other film.

Saman always walks to school.

We often eat bread and butter.

I never tell lies.

2. Adverbs of place

These answer the question “where.” They are usually

placed after the verbs.

Manel is standing there.

I did not put the book here.

We reached Colombo late.

She is nowhere to be seen.

It started raining everywhere.

3. Adverbs of manner

These answer the question “how.” They are usually placed after the verbs.

Susila smiled broadly.

John walked slowly across the field.

Wilson behaved badly at the party.

Mary dropped the cup accidentally.

Prathap held the ball tightly in his hand.

Ira tore up the letter angrily.

Mother folded the sari neatly.

The policeman looked at me closely, and then let me go.

Jaya raised his hand suddenly and applied the brakes.

Nihal tiptoed into the room quietly and went to bed.

4. Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree answer the question “to what degree?” They are usually placed before an adverb or an adjective.

Gihan ran home very fast.

The bag is too heavy for me to carry.

It’s a mistake they almost always make.

The house was quite big, but I didn’t like it.

The instructions were rather complicated.

5. Adverbs of number

Adverbs of Number, sometimes known as Adverbs of Frequency, include “once, twice, thrice, again, seldom, never, sometimes, always, often, firstly, secondly, thirdly” etc. They are usually placed at the end of a sentence.

I made a mistake once, but I won’t do it again.

The Smiths very seldom leave the house.

I’ll never stay at that hotel again.

He sometimes writes to me.

The postman always comes at 9 a.m.

It very often rains here in April.

6. Adverbs of questioning (Interrogative adverbs)

They are usually placed at the beginning of a sentence.

When are you leaving for India?

Where have all the children gone?

How did you manage to get a job?

Why are they shouting at each other?

7. Adverbs of negation (Adverbs of affirming or Denying)

These are placed at different places of a sentence depending on the meaning.

Kusum did not come after all.

He will certainly die if you don’t take him to a hospital.

This film is no more exciting than his others.