X. ADVERBS
29. In the sentence, “The donkey ate an armful of green grass,” we are told what action the donkey performed, but we are not told the manner in which he performed the action. Very often manner is worth telling, as in the sentence, “The donkey ate leisurely an armful of green grass.”
Since the word leisurely tells how the donkey ate, it must go with the word ate. We say of it what we said of adjectives, that it modifies the word it goes with. Since it modifies a verb, it is different from any part of speech that we have studied before. We call it an adverb.
30. The great difference between adjectives and adverbs is this, that the adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun, and the adverb usually modifies a verb. Adjectives describe objects, which are named by nouns, and adverbs usually describe actions, which are asserted by verbs.
31. Not all adverbs tell manner. They frequently tell time, place, direction, degree, or other circumstances; as in these sentences:—
Now the cow would be eating in one place, and then she would walk to another.
Here and there a snag lifted its nose out of the water like a shark.
For weeks his ship sailed onward over a lonely ocean.
Mother’s sudden cry frightened me terribly.
32. It was pointed out in Lesson IX that adjectives frequently tell some quality of an object. Sometimes we wish to tell in what degree this quality is possessed, as in the expressions, a very tall man, an exceedingly hot day, too ripe fruit. Here the words very, exceedingly, and too go with the adjectives tall, hot, and ripe to denote degree. Such words are said to modify the adjectives they go with. Words that modify adjectives are also called adverbs.
Note.—A group of words like very tall and exceedingly hot may be called an adjective element. Its base word is an adjective, modified by an adverb. It is the whole element, or group of words, that modifies the noun.
Adverbs of degree may modify adverbs as well as adjectives, as in the sentences, “The fox ran very swiftly,” “You speak too rapidly.”
Summary.—An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs usually tell time, place, manner, direction, or degree.
Unless a sentence is transposed, the adverb should be as near as possible to the word it modifies.
Adverbs in a series are separated from each other by commas.
Exercise 1.—Select all the adverbs in the following sentences. Tell what each adverb modifies, and what it denotes.
1. People with lanterns rushed hither and thither.
2. The island is separated from the mainland by a scarcely perceptible creek.
3.
And so the teacher turned him out,And still he lingered near,And waited patiently aboutTill Mary did appear.
4. Faintly, in gentle whiffs, the lilies on the low marble shelf threw off their delicate fragrance.
5. Quackalina was sitting happily among the reeds with her dear ones under her wings, while Sir Sooty waddled proudly around her.
6. In youth the tulip tree has a trunk peculiarly smooth.
7. On one occasion Gypsy put in her head, and lapped up six custard pies that had been placed by the casement to cool.
8. No wild animals were ever trained by the ancients.
9. The paper was passed skillfully from desk to desk until it finally reached my hands.
10. Messua’s husband had some remarkably fine buffaloes that worried him exceedingly.
11. The charcoal burners went off very valiantly in single file.
12. Sometimes my head almost aches with the variety of my knowledge.
13. Knots of gossips lingered here and there near the place.
14. This talk amused me greatly, but it went in at one ear and out at the other.
15. My father invested his money so securely in the banking business that he was never able to get any of it out again.
16. Yonder I shall sit down and get knowledge.
17. Then he would crawl forward inch by inch, and wait till the seal came up to breathe.
18. No one can work well without sleep.
19. This jackal was peculiarly low, a cleaner-up of village rubbish heaps, desperately timid, or wildly bold, everlastingly hungry, and full of cunning that never did him any good.
20. The Black Panther raised his head and yawned—elaborately, carefully, and ostentatiously.
Account for the commas in the last sentence.
Exercise 2.—Write sentences containing adverbs of manner modifying the following verbs:—
- comes
- goes
- plays
- reads
- sings
- skates
- speaks
- studies
- walks
- works
Exercise 3.—Write sentences containing the following adverbs:—
upward, downward, forward, backward, headlong, north, southward.
everywhere, nowhere, somewhere, anywhere.
seldom, often, always, sometimes, forever.
perfectly, unusually, unspeakably, positively, miserably.
Use the last five adverbs to modify adjectives or adverbs. What will they denote when so used?
Exercise 4.—Form adverbs from the following adjectives:—
- careless
- dreary
- firm
- gentle
- hasty
- noble
- painful
- sharp
- slow
- wide
What part of speech are the words chilly, deadly, holy, kindly, lively, lovely? Use them in sentences to find out.