(BBHT) Lesson Topic 2: Adverbs

Lesson Topic 2: Adverbs

What is an Adverb?

  • Adverbs modify or describe verbs (run fast), adjectives (often sad), or other adverbs (too often).
  • Adverbs often, but not always, end in -ly.
  • A test for deciding if a word is an adverb is to think about the word's function.
    • Adverbs tend to tell where, when, or how.
    • For example: very pretty, most unhappy, never angry, come soon
    • Adverbs often answer three questions: When? Where? How?

Adverbs often answer three questions: When? Where? How? It rained yesterday. WHEN did it rain? Yesterday. He is coming soon. WHEN is he coming? Soon. We are marching forward. WHERE are we marching? Forward. Bob is walking downstairs. WHERE is Bob walking? Downstairs. Tom jogs slowly. HOW is Tom jogging? Slowly. It is raining hard. HOW is it raining? Hard.

 

Watch the following classing "Schoolhouse Rock" video, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here."

While watching, look for examples of how adverbs tell how where, or when something is done. Adverbs describe the manner, place, or time of an action. Here are some examples:

Type Adverb Example
Manner slowly Jane drives slowly.
Place here The party is going to take place here.
Time yesterday I called him yesterday.

 

How to Recognize an Adverb

 Many adverbs end with the suffix -LY. Most of these are created by adding -LY to the end of an adjective, like this:

Adjective Adverb
slow slowly
delightful delightfully
hopeless hopelessly
aggressive aggressively

However, this is NOT a reliable way to find out whether a word is an adverb or not, for two reasons: many adverbs do NOT end in -LY (some are the same as the adjective form), and many words which are NOT adverbs DO end in -LY (such as kindly, friendly, elderly and lonely, which are adjectives). Here are some examples of adverbs that are the same as adjectives: 

Adjective Adverb
fast fast
late late
early early

The best way to tell if a word is an adverb is to try making a question, for which the answer is the word. If the question uses how, where or when, then the word is probably an adverb. Here is an example:

Word in context Question Adverb?
Seth plays tennis aggressively. How does Seth play tennis? Yes--uses how.
They have a small house. What kind of house do they have? No--uses what kind of, so this is an adjective.
Matthew called the police immediately. When did Matthew call the police? Yes--uses when.

 

Review

Now that you have completed the initial assessments for this module, review the lesson material with the practice activities and extra resources. 

Please complete the following self-assessment in order to review the material from this module.

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