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Function

Adverbs are adjectives that can modify a verb, a clause, another adjective or a phrase.

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Form

Adjectives are generally turned into adverbs with the addition of a -ly suffix, though this is not a concrete rule.

Examples of adverbs are:

• Jack is swimming quickly.
• Unfortunately, he lost the race.
• We told him to run much faster.

In the first case, the adverb modifies the verb swimming. The adjective 'quick' has had a -ly added to it to make an adverb. In the second sentence, it modifies the entire sentence and, in the final example, the adverb 'much' modifies the adverb 'faster.'

An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or another adverb; and it generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner: for example,

"They are now here, studying very diligently".

Adverbs have no modifications, except that a few are compared, after the manner of adjectives: as, soon, sooner, soonest; often, oftener, oftenest; long, longer, longest; fast, faster, fastest.

The following are irregularly compared: well, better, best; badly or ill, worse, worst; little less, least; much, more, most; far, farther, farthest; forth, further, furthest. "Rather" is now used only in the comparative.

Adverbs may be reduced to four general classes, namely: adverbs of time, of place, of degree, and of manner. Besides these, it is proper to distinguish the particular class of conjunctive adverbs.

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Comparative forms of adverbs

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Kinds of adverbs

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Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time are those which answer the question, When? How long? How soon? or, How often? including these which ask.

Adverbs of time may be subdivided as follows:

Of time present; as, Now, yet, to-day, nowadays, presently, instantly, immediately, straightway, directly, forthwith.

Of time past; as, Already, just now, lately, recently, yesterday, formerly, anciently, once, heretofore, hitherto, since, till now, long ago, erewhile, erst.

Of time to come; as, To-morrow, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by-and-by, soon, erelong, shortly.

Of time relative; as, When, then, first, just, before, after, while, whilst, meanwhile, as, till, until, seasonably, betimes, early, late, whenever, afterward, afterwards, otherwhile, otherwhiles.

Of time absolute; as, Always, ever, never, aye, eternally, forever, perpetually, continually, incessantly, endlessly, evermore, everlastingly.

Of time repeated; as, Often, oft, again, occasionally, frequently, sometimes, seldom, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, once, twice, thrice, or three times. Above this, we use only the phrases four times, five times, six times, &c. Whether these ought to be reckoned adverbs, or not, is questionable: times, for repetitions, or instances, may be supposed a noun; but such phrases often appear to be used adverbially.

Of place from which; as, Whence, hence, thence, away, out, off, far, remotely.

Of the order of place; as, First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, &c. Thus, secondly means in the second place; thirdly, in the third place; &c. For order, or rank, implies place, though it may consist of relative degrees.

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Adverbs of degree.

Adverbs of degree are those which answer to the question, How much? How little? or, to the idea of more or less.

Adverbs of degree may be subdivided as follows:

Of excess or abundance; as, Much, more, most, too, very, greatly, far, besides; chiefly, principally, mainly, mostly, generally; entirely, full, fully, completely, perfectly, wholly, totally, altogether, all, quite, clear, stark; exceedingly, excessively, extravagantly, intolerably; immeasurably, inconceivably, infinitely.

Of equality or sufficiency; as, Enough, sufficiently, competently, adequately, proportionally, equally, so, as, even, just, exactly, precisely.

Of deficiency or abatement; as, Little, less, least, scarcely, hardly, scantly, scantily merely, barely, only, but, partly, partially, nearly, almost, well-nigh, not quite.

Of quantity in the abstract; as, How, (meaning, in what degree,) however, howsoever, everso, something, anything, nothing, a groat, a sixpence, a sou-markee, and other nouns of quantity used adverbially.

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Adverbs of manner.

Adverbs of manner are those which answer to the question, How? or, by affirming, denying, or doubting, show how a subject is regarded.

Adverbs of manner may be subdivided as follows:

Of manner from quality; as, Well, ill, wisely, foolishly, justly, wickedly, and many others formed by adding ly to adjectives of quality. Ly is a contraction of like; and is the most common termination of English adverbs. When added to nouns, it forms adjectives; but some few of these are also used adverbially; as, daily, weekly, monthly, which denote time.

Of affirmation or assent; as, Yes, yea, ay, verily, truly, indeed, surely, certainly, doubtless, undoubtedly, assuredly, certes, forsooth, amen.

Of negation; as, No, nay, not, nowise, noway, noways, nohow.

Of doubt or uncertainty; as, Perhaps, haply, possibly, perchance, peradventure, may-be.

Of mode or way; as, Thus, so, how, somehow, nohow, anyhow, however, howsoever, like, else, otherwise, across, together, apart, asunder, namely, particularly, necessarily, hesitatingly, trippingly, extempore, headlong, lengthwise.

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Conjunctive adverbs.

A conjunctive adverb joins two together. This requires the use of a semicolon. Examples of conjunctive adverbs are:

• He fell down the stairs; consequently, he will not be attending school tomorrow.

he accidentally dropped his pants down consequently, he will not be attending school tomorrow.due to humiliation

Conjunctive adverbs are those which perform the office of conjunctions, and serve to connect sentences, as well as to express some circumstance of time, place, degree, or the like. This class embraces a few words not strictly belonging to any of the others: as,

The adverbs of cause; why, wherefore, therefore; but the last two of these are often called conjunctions.

The pronominal compounds; herein, therein, wherein, &c.; in which the former term is a substitute, and virtually governed by the enclitic particle.