Leaning Objectives 1.You will be able to identify, define and demonstrate correct usage of adverbs. 2.You will identify adverbs and the words that they modify. 3.You will identify intensifiers or adverbs that modify adjectives and other adverbs. 4.You will rewrite the given passage with appropriate adverbs to add meaning, mood, and colour.

Adverbs We Can Do Without Developed by Ivan Seneviratne

What are they? Adverbs are words that modify an action verb, an adjective and another adverb. Examples

Modifying a Verb When modifying a verb, an adverb may describe or tell how, when and where? Examples: –I slept soundly. (tells how) –I slept later. (tells when) –I slept there. (tells where)

In the passage below, the adverbs modify verbs. The adverbs are in orange colour and the verbs they modify are in yellow colour. The watchman raised his torch and aimed for the intruder's head. He aimed carefully. As he aimed, he yelled loudly. The torch crashed heavily on the intruder's skull and the intruder fell immediately to the floor. The body hit the ground heavily. The watchman laughed wickedly.

Modifying an Adjective or Another Adverb An adverb that emphasizes an adjective or adverb is called an …. INTENSIFIER.  almost  extremely  just  nearly  practically  quite  not  rather  really  so  somewhat  such  too  very Intensifiers

Intensifier may tell how and to what extent. Examples: 1.She is very pretty. 2.They are extremely smart. 3.The puppy barked too loudly. 4.The boy ran rather quickly. Adj. Adv.

In the next passage, the adverbs modify adjectives. The adverbs are orange colour and the adjectives they modify are in green colour. The watchman bent over the body. He examined the hands. They were unexpectedly large hands. They were very rough. They looked like the hands of a builder or a gardener. The feet were equally large. He looked at the footwear. A pair of extremely old sandals of a type no longer made. Underneath the sandals were grey socks. The socks were incredibly dirty. He looked at the face. The face was very unusual but also absolutely familiar to him.

Types of Adverbs They tell us how the actions were done. She moved slowly and spoke quietly. They tell us where the action took place. Let’s hang the picture here. They tell us when the action took place. It's starting to get dark now. Adverbs of MannerAdverbs of PlaceAdverbs of Time

Types of Adverbs They tell us how often the situation occurred. She takes the boat to the mainland every day. They tell us to what extent something has occurred. It was extremely funny. Introduces a sentence that asks a question. where, when, why and how. Adverbs of FrequencyAdverbs of DegreeInterrogative Adverbs

Types of Adverbs Some adverbs are used as conjunctions. moreover, anyway, however, hence, then, besides and nevertheless They Introduce reasons or explanations for things happening or being done. because, because of, as, since, for, due to and owing to. Adverbs as ConnectivesAdverbs of Reasons

Work in Pairs! Rewrite the passage using adverbs. Pat and Sandy walked to their new neighbor's house. Their mother had made some cookies as a kind of welcome present to the neighborhood. The neighbor's house stood on the corner of the street and was surrounded by a fence. The children looked at the house as they passed through the gate. "Look!" said Pat and pointed at a cat in the window. Soon they were down the front path and stood in front of the door. "Well, ring it!" said Sandy and Pat did so. They waited for someone to answer. Soon they heard footsteps and the door opened.

Recognizing Adverbs Most adverbs are formed from an adjective by adding the suffix- ly or - ally to the end. However, some words that end in – ly are adjectives. adjective + ly Some adverbs have the same form as the adjective. high, low, hard, better, fast The adverb corresponding to the adjective "good" is “well.”

Spice Your Sentences We walked slowly over the icy sidewalks to the cafeteria. Revised: Slowly we walked over the icy sidewalks to the cafeteria. (for emphasis, add a comma after the adverb) Slowly, we walked over the icy sidewalks.

In the next passage, there are adverbs that modify other adverbs. The adverbs that modify other adverbs are in orange colour and the adverbs they modify are in italics. The watchman smiled extremely widely and then laughed very loudly. So this was the intruder. What a surprise. He had seen this particular person on several occasions in the university, walking around so confidently as if at home. In fact, he knew this face surprisingly well. This was the person he had seen coming out of Professor Walker's office at the end of term. He had wondered about that. After all, Professor Walker had been attending a conference overseas. However, he had come back pretty quickly when he had heard that the language department was to be amalgamated with the drama department. The watchman looked down at the body again. He hadn't realized that faces changed that rapidly after death.

Your Turn!!! Read the following passage and add appropriate adverbs to make it interesting. The watchman recovered from the madness that had overcome him. He was sweating. This was a difficult situation. There was a body at his feet. He had killed. It was an easy thing to do. What about Professor Walker? He ran towards Professor Walker's office. He saw Professor Walker lying across his desk with a knife plunged into his chest. There were no witnesses. Nobody knew about the things that had happened.

Reading Passages - This presentation is developed by Ivan Seneviratne © 2007, purely for personal use. Acknowledgment