Top Tips Grammar: Adverbials

Main points

*Adverbials are usually adverbs, adverb phrases, or prepositional phrases.
*Adverbials of manner, place, and time are used to say how, where, or when something happens.
*Adverbials usually come after the verb, or after the object if there is one.
*The usual order of adverbials is manner, the place, then time.

 

a) An adverbial is often one word, and adverb.

- Sit there quietly, and listen to this music.

However, an adverbial can also be a group of words:

*an adverb phrase

- He did not play well enough to win.

*a prepositional phrase

- The children were playing in the park.

*a noun group, usually a time expression

- Come and see me next week.

 

b) You use an adverbial of manner to describe the way in which something happens or is done.

- They looked anxiously at each other.
- She listened with great patience as he told his story.

You use an adverbial of place to say where something happens.

- A plane flew overhead.
- No birds or animals come near the body.

You use an adverbial of time to say when something happens.

- She will be here soon.
- He was born on 4 April 1956.

 

c) You normally put adverbials of manner, place, and time after the main verb.

- She sang beautifully.
- The book was lying on the table.
- The car broke down yesterday.

If the verb has an object, you put the adverbial after the object.

- I did learn to play a few tunes very badly.
- Thomas made his decision immediately.
- He took the glasses to the kitchen.

If you are using more than one of these adverbials in a clause, the usual order is manner, then place, then time.

- They were sitting quite happily in the car. (manner, place)
- She spoke very well at the village hall last night. (manner, place, time)

 

d) You usually put adverbials of frequency, probability, and duration in front of the main verb.

- She occasionally comes to my house.
- You have very probably heard the news by now.
- They had already given me the money.

A few adverbs of degree also usually come in front of the main verb.

- She really enjoyed the party.

 

e) When you want to focus on an adverbial, you can do this by putting it in a different place in the clause:

*you can put an adverbial at the beginning of a clause, usually for emphasis.

- Slowly, he opened his eyes.
- In September I travelled to California.
- Next to the coffee machine stood a pile of cups.

Note that after adverbials of place, as in the last example, the verb can come in front of the subject.

*you can sometimes put adverbs and adverb phrases in front of the main verb for emphasis, but not prepositional phrases or noun groups.

- He deliberately chose it because it was cheap.
- I very much wanted to go with them.

*you can change the order of adverbials of manner, place, and time when you want to change the emphasis.

- They were sitting in the car quite happily. (place, manner)
- At the meeting last night, she spoke very well. (place, time, manner)

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
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See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Adverbials of manner

Main points

*Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding ‘-ly’ to an adjective, but sometimes other spelling changes are needed.
*You cannot form adverbs from adjectives that end in ‘-ly’.
*Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives.
*You do not use adverbs after link verbs, you use adjectives.
*Adverbials of manner are sometimes prepositional phrases or noun groups.

 

a) Adverbs if manner are often formed by adding ‘-ly’ to an adjective.

Adjectives	: bad, beautiful, careful, quick, quiet, soft
Adverbs	: badly, beautifully, carefully, quickly, quietly, softly

 

b) Adverbs formed in this way usually have a similar meaning to the adjective.

- She is a clever as she is beautiful.
- He talked so politely and danced so beautifully.
- ‘We must not talk. We must be quiet’, said Rita.
- She wanted to sit quietly, to relax.

 

c) There are sometimes changes in spelling when adverb is formed from an adjective.

-le’ changes to ‘-ly’	gentle	-->	gently
‘-y’  changes to ‘-ily’	easy	-->	easily
‘-ic’ changes to ‘-ically’	automatic	-->	automatically
‘-ue’ changes to ‘-uly’	true	-->	truly
‘-ll’ changes to ‘-lly’	full	-->	fully

Note that ‘public’ changes to ‘publicity’, not ‘publically’. Remember that you cannot form adverbs from adjectives that already end in ‘-ly’. For example, you cannot say ‘He smiled at me friendlily’. You can sometimes use a prepositional phrase instead: ‘He smiled at me in a friendly way’.

 

d) Some adverbs of manner have the same form as adjectives and have similar meanings, for example ‘fast’, ‘hard’, and ‘late’.

- I’ve always been interested in fast cars. (adjective)
- The driver was driving too fast. (adverb)

Note that ‘hardly’ and ‘lately’ are not adverbs of manner and have different meaning from the adjectives ‘hard’ and ‘late’.

- It was a hard decision to make.
- I hardly had any time to talk to her.
- The train was late as usual.
- Have you see John lately?

 

e) The adverb of manner related to the adjective ‘good’ is ‘well’.

- He is a good dancer.
- He dance well.

Note that ‘well’ can sometimes be an adjective when it refers to someone’s health.

- ‘How are you?’ – ‘I’m very well, thank you’.

 

f) You do not use adverbs after link verbs such as ‘be’, ‘become’, ‘feel’, ‘get’, ‘look’, and ‘seem’. You use an adjective after these verbs. For example, you do not say ‘Sue felt happily’. You say ‘Sue felt happy’.

 

g) You do not often use prepositional phrases or noun groups as adverbial of manner. However, you occasionally need to use them, for example when there is no adverb form available. The prepositional phrases and noun groups usually include a noun such as ‘way’, ‘fashion’, or ‘manner’, or a noun that refers to someone’s voice.

- She asked me in such a nice manner that I couldn’t refuse.
- He did it the right way.
- They spoke in angry tone.

Prepositional phrases with ‘like’ are also used as adverbials of manner.

- I slept like a baby.
- He drove like a madman.

 

 

 

 

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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Adverbials of time

Main points

*Adverbials of time can be time expressions such as ‘last night’.
*Adverbials of time can be prepositional phrases with ‘at’, ‘in’, or ‘on’.
*‘For’ refers to a period of time in the past, present, or future.
*‘Since’ refers to a point in past time.

 

a) You use adverbials of time to say when something happens. You often use noun groups called time expressions as adverbials of time.

yesterday	last night	next week
today	last year	the day after tomorrow
tomorrow	next Saturday	the other day

Note that you don’t use the prepositions ‘at’, ‘in’, ‘on’ with time expressions.

- One of my children wrote to me today.
- So, you’re coming back next week?

You often use time expressions with verbs in the present tense to talk about the future.

- The plane leaves tomorrow morning.
- They’re coming next week.

 

b) You can use prepositional phrases as adverbials of time:

*‘at’ is used with:

Clock times	: at eight o’clock, at three fifteen
Religious festivals	: at Christmas, at Easter
Mealtimes	: at breakfast, at lunchtimes
Specific periods	: at night, at the weekend, at weekends, at half-term

 

*‘in’ is used with:

Seasons	: in autumn, in the spring
Years and centuries	: in 1985, in the year 2000, in the nineteenth century
Months	: in July, in December
Parts of the day	: in the morning, in the evenings

Note that you also use ‘in’ to say that something will happen during or after a period of time in the future.

- I think we’ll find out in the next few days.

*‘on’ is used with:

Days	: on Monday, on Tuesday morning, on Sunday evenings
Dates	: on the twentieth of July, on June 21st
Special days	: on Christmas Day, on my birthday, on his wedding anniversary

 

 

c) You use ‘for’ with verbs in any tense to say how long something continues to happen.

- He is in Italy for a month.
- I remained silent for a long time.
- I will be in London for three months.

Remember that you don’t use ‘during’ to say how long something continues to happen. You cannot say ‘I went there during three weeks’.

 

d) You use ‘since’ with a verb in the present perfect or past perfect tense to say when something started to happen.

- Marilyn has lived in Paris since 1984.
- I had eaten nothing since breakfast.

 

e) You can use many other prepositional phrases as adverbials of time. You use:

*‘during’ and ‘over’ for a period of time in which something happens.

- I saw him twice during the holidays.
- Will you stay here over Christmas?

*‘From... to/till/until' and ‘between... and’ for the beginning and end of a period of time.

- The building is closed from April to May.
- She worked from four o’clock till ten o’clock.
- Can you take the test between now and June?

*‘by’ when you mean ‘not later than’

- By eleven o’clock, Alex was back in his office.
- Can we get this finished by tomorrow?

*‘before’ and ‘after’

- I saw him before the match.
- She left the house after ten o’clock.

‘Since’, ‘till’, ‘until’, ‘after’, and ‘before’ can also be conjunctions with time clauses.

- I’ve been wearing glasses since I was there.

 

f) You use the adverb ‘ago’ with the past simple to say how long before the time of speaking something happened. You always put ‘ago’ after the period of time.

- We saw him about a month ago.
- John’s wife died five years ago.

Remember that you do not use ‘ago’ with the present perfect tense. You cannot say ‘We have gone to Spain two years ago’.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Frequency and probability

Main points

*This includes words like: ‘always’, ‘ever’, ‘never’, ‘perhaps’, ‘possibly’ and ‘probably’.
*Adverbials of frequency are used to say how often something happens.
*Adverbials of probability are used to say how sure you are about something.
*These adverbial usually come before the main verb, but they come after ‘be’ as a main verb.

 

a) You use adverbials of frequency to say how often something happens.

a lot	frequently	normally	rarely
always	hardly ever	occasionally	sometimes
ever	never	often	usually

- We often swam in the sea.
- She never comes to my parties.

 

b) You use adverbials of probability to say how sure you are about something.

certainly	maybe	perhaps	probably
definitely	obviously	possibly	really

- I definitely saw her yesterday.
- The driver probably knows the quickest route.

 

c) You usually puts adverbial of frequency and probability before the main verb and after an auxiliary or a modal.

- He sometimes works downstairs in the kitchen.
- You are definitely wasting your time.
- I have never had such a horrible meal!
- I shall never forget this day.

Note that you usually put them after ‘be’ as a main verb.

- He is always careful with his money.
- You are probably right.

‘Perhaps’ usually comes at the beginning of the sentence.

- Perhaps the beaches are cleaner in the north.
- Perhaps you need a membership card to get in.

‘A lot’ always comes after the main ver.

- I go swimming a lot in the summer.

 

d) ‘Never’ is a negative adverb.

- She never goes abroad.
- I’ve never been to Europe.

You normally use ‘ever’ in questions, negative sentences, and ‘if’- clauses.

- Have you ever been to a football match?
- Don’t ever do that again!
- If you ever need anything, just call me.

Note that you can sometimes use ‘ever’ in affirmative sentences, for example, after a superlative.

- She is the best dancer I have ever seen.

You use ‘hardly ever’ in affirmative sentences to mean almost never.

- We hardly ever meet.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Adverbials of duration

Main points

*‘Already’ is used to say that something has happened earlier than expected.
*‘Still’ is used to say that something continues to happen until a particular time.
*‘Yet’ is used to say that something has not happened before a particular time.
*‘Any longer’, ‘any more’, ‘no longer’, and ‘no more’ are used to say that something has stopped happening.

 

a) You use adverbials of duration to say that an event or situation is continuing, stopping, or is not happening at the moment.

- She still lives in London.
- I couldn’t stand it any more.
- It isn’t dark yet.

 

b) You use ‘already’ to say that something has happened sooner than it was expected to happen. You put ‘already’ in front of the main verb.

- He had already bought the cups and saucers.
- I’ve already seen them.
- The guests were already coming in.

You put ‘already’ after ‘be’ as a main verb.

- Julie was already in bed.

You can also use ‘already’ to emphasize that something is the case, for example when someone else does not know or is not sure.

- I am already aware of that problem.

You do not normally use 'already’ in negative statements, but you can use it in negative ‘if’- clauses.

- Show it to him if he hasn’t already seen it.

You can put ‘already’ at the beginning or end of a clause for emphasis.

- Already he was calculating the profit he could make.
- I’ve done it already.

 

c) You use ‘still’ to say that a situation continues to exist up to a particular time in the past, present, or future. You put ‘still’ in front of the main verb.

- We were still waiting for the election results.
- My family still live in India.
- You will still get tickets, if you hurry.

You put ‘still’ after ‘be’ as a main verb.

- Martin’s mother died, but his father is still alive.

You can use ‘still’ after the subject and before the verb group in negative sentences to express surprise or impatience.

- You still haven’t given us the keys.
- He still didn’t say a word.
- It was after midnight, and he still wouldn’t leave.

Remember that you can use ‘still’ at the beginning of a clause with a similar meaning to ‘after all’ or ‘nevertheless’.

- Still, he is my brother, so I’ll have to help him.
- Still, it’s not too bad. We didn’t lose all the money.

 

d) You use ‘yet’ at the end of negative sentence and questions to say that something has not happened or had not happened up to a particular time, but is or was expected to happen later.

- We haven’t got the tickets yet.
- Have you joined the swimming club, yet?
- They hadn’t seen the baby yet.

Remember that ‘yet’ can also be used at the beginning of a clause with a similar meaning to ‘but’.

- I don’t miss her, yet I do often wonder where she went.
- They know they won’t win. Yet they keep on trying.

 

e) You use ‘any longer’ and ‘any more’ at the end of negative clauses to say that a past situation has ended and does not exist now or will not exist in the future.

- I wanted the job, but I couldn’t wait any longer.
- He’s not going to play any more.

In formal English, you can use an affirmative clause with ‘no longer’ and ‘no more’. You can put them at the end of the clause, or in front of the main verb.

- He could stand the pain no more.
- He no longer wanted to buy it.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.

Top Tips Grammar: Adverbials of degree

Main points

*Adverbs of degree usually modify verbs.
*Some adverbs of degree can modify adjectives, other adverbs, or clauses.

 

a) You use adverbs of degree to modify verbs. They make the verb stronger or weaker.

- I totally disagree.
- I can nearly swim.

 

b) Some adverbs can come in front of a main verb, after a main verb, or after the object if there is one.

badly	greatly	strongly
completely	seriously	totally

- Mr. Brooke strongly criticized the Bank of Peru.
- I disagree completely with Fosh Taylor.
- That argument doesn’t convince me totally.

Some adverbs are mostly used in front of the verb.

almost	nearly	quite
largely	really

- He almost crashed into a lorry.

Note that ‘really’ is used at the beginning of a clause to express surprise, and at the end of a clause as an adverb of manner.

- Really, I didn’t know that!
- He wanted it really, but was too shy to ask.

‘A lot’ and ‘very much’ come after the main verb if there is no object, or after the object.

- She helped a lot.
- We liked him very much.

‘Very much’ can come after the subject and in front of verbs like ‘want’, ‘prefer’, and ‘enjoy’.

- I very much wanted to take it with me.

 

c) Some adverbs of degree go in front of adjectives or other adverbs and modify them.

awfully	fairly	quite	really
extremely	pretty	rather	very

- ... a fairly large office, with filing space.

Note that you can use ‘rather’ before or after ‘a’ or ‘an’ followed by an adjective and a noun.

- Tabalosos is rather a pleasant town.
- It is a rather complicated story.

When ‘quite’ means ‘fairly’, you put it in front of ‘a’ or ‘an’ followed by an adjective and a noun.

- My father gave me quite a large sum of money.

However, when ‘quite’ means ‘extremely’, you can put it after ‘a’. You can say ‘a quite enormous sum’.

 

d) You use some adverbs of degree to modify clauses and prepositional phrases.

entirely	largely	partly
just	mainly	simply

- Are you saying that simply because I am here?
- I don’t think it’s worth going just for a day.

 

e) You use ‘so’ and ‘such’ to emphasize a quality that someone or something has. ‘So’ can be followed by an adjective, an adverb, or a noun group beginning with ‘many’, ‘much’, ‘few’, or ‘little’.

- John is so interesting to talk to.
- I want to do so many different things.
- Science is changing so rapidly.

‘Such’ is followed by a singular noun group with ‘a’, or a plural noun group.

- There was such a noise we couldn’t hear.
- They said such nasty things.

Remember that ‘So’ is never followed by a singular noun group with ‘a’ or a plural noun groups.

 

f) You use ‘too’ when you mean ‘more than is necessary’ or ‘more than is good’. You can use ‘too’ before adjective and adverbs, and before ‘many’, ‘much’, ‘few’, or ‘little’.

- The prices are too high.
- I’ve been paying too much tax.

You use ‘enough’ after adjectives and adverbs.

- I waited until my daughter was old enough to read.
- He didn’t work quickly enough.

Note that ‘enough’ is also a determiner.

- We’ve got enough money to buy that car now.

 

g) You use emphasizing adverbs to modify adjectives such as ‘astonishing’, ‘furious’, and ‘wonderful’, which express extreme qualities.

absolutely	perfectly	really	utterly
completely	purely	simply
entirely	quite	totally

- I think he’s absolutely wonderful.

 

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------
Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A    -    Part B
---------------------------------------------

 

See also:

Words related to Failure to Cooperate	Irregular Verbs list
Common Phrasal Verbs	Common Slangs
Common misspellings	Regular vs Irregular Verbs
Common Errors	Frequently confused words
Common Slangs	Lista de Términos Gramaticales
Common Clichés	Common Prepositions

 

No te olvides de compartir esto con tus amigos y compañeros, hagamos de este Blog una comunidad de difusión del Inglés como segundo idioma. Antes de irte deja tu comentario y haz clic en Me Gusta.