Adverbs

Question 1

Adverbs are words that modify?

Answer 1

Verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs

Question 2

If a group of words containing a subject and a verb acts as an adverb, what is it?

Answer 2

An adverb clause

Question 3

When a group of words without a subject and a verb acts as an adverb, what is it?

Answer 3

An adverbial phrase

Question 4

Prepositional phrases often have adverbial functions why?

Answer 4

Because they tell the place and time/modify the verb : They lived in Canada during the war.

Question 5

Infinitive phrases can act as adverbs why?

Answer 5

Because they tell why : “She hurried to the mainland to see her brother.

Question 6

Adverbs can modify adjectives but adjectives cannot modify what?

Answer 6

Adverbs, you can say “My professor ran really fast.” and not “He ran real fast.”

Question 7

Do adverbs have comparitive degrees?

Answer 7

Yes. “Walk faster if you want to keep up with me.” “This is the fastest I’ve ever been given coffee.”

Question 8

Which comparitive and superlative words do we use most to show degrees with adverbs?

Answer 8

More and most, less and least.
“With sneakers on, she could move more quickly among the patients.”

Question 9

Similar to adjectives, as_as constructions can have adverbs express what?

Answer 9

Equality. “He can’t run as fast as his sister.”

Question 10

A handful of adverbs have two forms that hold two different meanings, what are they?

Answer 10

-ly and no -ly. “He’s been arriving rather late this week.” “Lately, he can never be on time.”

Question 11

When adverbs have two forms; one ending in -ly and one not, which is used for casual situations most of the time.

Answer 11

The form without the -ly: “He did wrong by her.”

Question 12

Adverbs often function as intensifiers. What are the three functions of intensifiers?

Answer 12

Emphasize: “I really don’t believe him.”
Amplify: “The teacher completely rejected her proposal.”
Downtone: “I kind of like this college.”

Question 13

Adverbs (as well as adjectives) in their various degrees can be accompanied by what?

Answer 13

Premodifiers: “She runs very fast.”

Question 14

Within the normal flow of text it’s nearly always a bad idea to number items beyond what?

Answer 14

3 or 4 at the most. Anything past that and you’re better off with a vertical list that uses numbers.

Question 15

In a numbered vertical list, instead of using adverbs (with an -ly ending), what do you use?

Answer 15

The uninflected ordinal number : first, second, third, fourth, etc. NOT Firstly, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, etc.

Question 16

What are the 5 kinds of adverbs?

Answer 16

Adverbs of Manner: “She moved slowly and spoke quietly.”
Adverbs of Place: “She stills lives there now.”
Adverbs of Frequency: “She often goes by herself.”
Adverbs of Time: “She left early.
Adverbs of Purpose: “She shops in several stores to get the best buys.

Question 17

What is one of the hallmarks of adverbs?

Answer 17

Their ability to move around in a sentence. “Solemnly, the minister addressed her congregation.”
“The minister solemnly addressed her congregation.”
“The minister addressed her congregation solemnly”

Question 18

Indefinite adverbs of time can appear in two places in a sentence. What are these two places?

Answer 18

Before the verb: “He finally showed up for batting practice.”
Between the auxiliary and the main verb: “She has recently retired.”

Question 19

What is the basic order of adverbs when there is more than one?

Answer 19

1. Verb: Dad Walks
2. Manner: impatiently
3. Place: into town
4. Frequency: every afternoon
5. Time: before supper
6. Purpose: to get a newspaper

Question 20

Regardless of content, which goes first? A shorter or longer adverbial phrase.

Answer 20

Shorter adverbial phrases.
Regardless of the basic order of adverbs, shorter adverbial phrases come first.

Question 21

Among similar adverbial phrases of kind (manner, place, frequency, etc.), how can you tell which comes first?

Answer 21

By seeing which is the most specific, because the more specific adverbial phrases come first.

Question 22

An adverbial modifier being brought to the beginning of a sentence does what to that modifier?

Answer 22

It places special emphasis on that modifer. This is particularly useful with adverbs of manner:
“Slowly, ever so carefully, Jesse filled his coffee cup up to the brim, even above the brim.”

Question 23

When an adverb is neatly integrated into the flow of a sentence, it is called a what?

Answer 23

An adjunct.

Question 24

When an adverb does not fit into the flow of a clause, it is called one of two things, what are these two things?

Answer 24

A disjunct or a conjunct

Question 25

A disjunct can frequently act as what for a sentence?

Answer 25

An evaluation, although it usually modifies the verb, we could say that it modifies the entire clause, too.
“Fortunately, no one was hurt.”

Question 26

Conjuncts serve what purpose in a sentence?

Answer 26

It serves a connector function within the flow of the text, signaling a transition between ideas. “If they start smoking those awful cigars, then I’m not staying.”

Question 27

The adverbial conjunction serves what purpose?

Answer 27

It serves a purely conjunctive purpose. “I love this school; however, I don’t think I can afford the tuition.”

Question 28

The adverbs enough and not enough usually take what position?

Answer 28

A postmodifier position: “Is that music loud enough?”
“This amount of homework is not enough.”

Question 29

The adverb enough is often followed by what?

Answer 29

An infinitive: “She didn’t run fast enough to win”

Question 30

When enough functions as an adjective, what can it do?

Answer 30

It can come before the noun: “Did she give us enough time.”

Question 31

Does the adverb too usually come before adjectives and other adverbs?

Answer 31

Yes. “She ran too fast.”
“She works too quickly.”

Question 32

If too comes after an adverb, it is probably what?

Answer 32

A disjunct, and is usually set off with a comma. “Yasmin works hard. She works quickly, too.”

Question 33

The adverb too is often followed by what?

Answer 33

An infinitive: “She runs too slowly to enter this race.”

Question 34

What is a common construction for the adverb too involving prepositional phrases?

Answer 34

Too is followed by a prepositional phrase for + the object of the preposition followed by an infinitive.
“This milk is too hot for a baby to drink.

Question 35

What are the three relative adverbs?

Answer 35

Where, when, and why

Question 36

What do the three relative adverbs where, when, and why do?

Answer 36

They introduce adjectival clauses. Although the entire clause is adjectival and will modify a noun, the relative word fulfills an adverbial function (modifying a verb within it’s own clause).

Question 37

The relative adverb where will begin a clause that modifies a noun of what?

Answer 37

A noun of place: “My entire family now worships in the church where my great grandfather used to be minister.”

Question 38

The relative adverb when modifies nouns of what?

Answer 38

Time: “My favorite month is always February, when we celebrate Valentine’s Day and President’s Day.”

Question 39

The relative adverb why will modify one noun, what is that noun?

Answer 39

The noun reason: “Do you know the reason why Isabel isn’t in class today.” Though sometimes the relative adverb is left out of such clauses, “Do you know the reason Isabel isn’t in class today?”

Question 40

What is a viewpoint adverb?

Answer 40

An adverb that generally comes after a noun and is related to an adjective that precedes that noun: “A successful athletic team is often a good team scholastically.
You will sometimes hear the words “scholastically speaking” or “financially speaking” in these circumstances, but the word “speaking” is seldom necessary.

Question 41

What is a focus adverb?

Answer 41

An adverb that indicates that what is being communicated is limited to the part that is being focused; a focus adverb will tend either to limit the sense of the sentence (“He got an A just for attending the class.”) or to act as an additive (“He got an A in addition to being published.”)

Question 42

What is a negative adverb?

Answer 42

A negative adverb creates a negative meaning in a sentence without the use of the usual no/not/neither/nor/never constructions.
“He seldom visits.”
“She hardly eats anything since the accident.”