Grammatical Parts of Speech | Adverbs Quizzes

Adverbs are single word modifiers that describe other words. They modify the exact meaning of the word by further describing it. An adverb can be used to change the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

We will look at how adding adverbs enhances the expressiveness of sentences by adding to the other grammatical parts of speech.

In the following illustrations, the verbs, adjectives, and adverbs being modified by an adverb are in green type. The modifying adverb is in blue. The three sentences we will modify are:

1. The monkey ate his banana. (verb = ate)
2. Lady Aria is wearing a pretty dress. (adjective = pretty)
3. Tommy Turtle runs daily (adverb = daily).

In the first sentence, we have stated simply that the monkey ate his banana. The grammatical parts of speech included in this sentence are the subject (monkey), the verb (ate), a direct object (banana), a possessive pronoun (his), and an adjective specifying which monkey (the).

However, what we really want to emphasize is HOW the monkey ate. We add an adverb to describe the MANNER in which he ate—slowly.

The second sentence tell us that Lady Aria is wearing a pretty dress. The principle parts of speech in this sentence are the subject (Lady Aria), the verb (is wearing), a direct object (dress), and an adjective describing the dress (pretty).

However, we really want to stress the DEGREE of prettiness. By adding the word extremely, we emphasize that the dress is something more than simply pretty.

The third sentence illustrates an adverb which modifies another adverb. The principle parts of speech are the subject (Tommy Turtle), the verb (runs), and an adverb modifying the verb (daily). (Daily is an adverb of time—also called the when adverbs.)

In this sentence, we add the word almost to describe the FREQUENCY of Tommy's runs. He does not, in fact, run every day; just most days.

Adverbs are commonly classified into five (5) different groups. We will look at these in a moment. First, let's do a quick little quiz to test your CURRENT level of understanding of adverbs.

Images Courtesy of OCAL at Clkr.com

Just in case you missed a few of the adverbs and don't know which ones, here are the sentences included in the quiz, with each adverb shown in dark red.

1. Today I saw a very small squirrel nearby who was wildly running in increasingly smaller circles.
2. Jennifer sometimes pretends to believe the brightly glowing fireflies are little fairies wearing spectacularly shiny evening gowns.
3. It is furiously snowing outside now so wear your heavily insulated boots with warm socks.
4. The children had been happily playing a video game but finally got bored and quit playing.
5. Normally Maddie is extremely happy playing with her toys, but today she is reading more.
6. Watch closely and you will often see beautifully colored birds gracefully soaring overhead.
7. The old man frequently sprawls on the heavily overstuffed sofa and sleepily watches old movies.

In the English language, most parts of speech have more than a simple explanation. For example, pronouns are divided into many categories, such as personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, possessive pronouns and more. Adverbs are no exception. They are assigned to categories or groups based on the function they perform. The most commonly recognized groups are the ones shown in this section.

Sometimes it can be a little difficult to figure out the group to which an adverb belongs. This is especially difficult for those learning English as a second language and grade school children. In his Words Are CATegorical kids books, Brian Cleary teaches about adverbs in a fun, easy-to-read format that engages children quickly in the learning process. In those books, he uses colored text to distinguish each type of adverb. I shall follow his pattern of colors as we discuss the kinds of adverbs. The five categories of adverbs are:

Note: There are actually several other categories of adverbs. We will look at those after covering these primary adverb groups.

Images Courtesy of OCAL at Clkr.com

Adverbs used with verbs intensify the meaning of the verb by telling how or in what manner the action happened, thereby making it more expressive. Such use creates a much more visual and powerful understanding of the action. For example, one might say: "Mary ran down the street."

Without further modification, one person might visualize Mary running away in fear. Another might see her as sad and running to relieve her sadness. Yet we can add one simple word to clearly indicate Mary's state of mind. We can say: "Mary merrily ran down the street." The adverb lets us know immediately that Mary is neither in danger nor is she sad; rather, she is happy!

Read the following sentences and think about the mental image they create. What is the emotional state or activity level of each person in the sentence?

1. Tom walked down the street.
2. Kimberly ate her broccoli.
3. The children were playing.

Now read the sentences again with adverbs added. Does your mental image change? Do you have a better understanding of what is actually happening in each sentence?

1. Tom hurriedly walked down the street.
2. Kimberly eagerly ate her broccoli.
3. The children were playing noisily.

Some adverbs of time are easy to spot because they answer the question: "What day did it happen?" Words like yesterday and today are easy, of course. Other adverbs of time are a bit more mysterious. They do not identify a specific time, but they do say "when". Let's look at some examples of these adverbs.

• Recently, I read several of Brian Cleary's books for kids.
• The Words Are CATegorical books are always fun.
• I never watch reality programs on television.
• Sam and Lynn read these books almost nightly.

Notice that I slipped another little adverb into the last sentence. Nightly is the adverb that tells when the children read. Almost is an adverb of frequency that modifies the time adverb "nightly". Now we know that the children don't read every night, but almost every night. (More about Frequency Adverbs later.)

Where adverbs are meant to tell the location or direction of objects or actions. Adverbs that identify specific places are fairly easy:

1. Here is Brian Cleary's kidsbook, Lazily, Crazily, Just a Bit Nasally.
2. Sally left her book about adverbs downstairs.
3. After doing their homework, Jill and Peter went outside.
4. I've looked everywhere, but I can't seem to find my keys anywhere.

It is really that simple, but it can be very confusing because of another part of speech called a preposition. Many adverbs serve the same purpose as prepositions—connecting other words that bring greater clarity to a sentence. This occurs when they are used in phrases and clauses in conjunction with an object. The joined words then form an adverbial phrase or adverbial clause. In that case, the whole phrase or clause tells where.

1. To keep it away from his little brother, Jim held the ball above his head.
2. You will probably find what you are looking for if you go down the hall.
3. Mary Jo's kitten is probably hiding under the bed or up a tree.

Prepositional phrases may also tell where, such as "at the store." However, prepositions can never stand alone; they must always have an object to complete their meaning. On the other hand, because they are single word modifiers, adverbs can be used without an object, although such usage may not express exactly what was intended. The following sentences will help in understanding that concept.

1. The children went outside.
2. The children went outside the park boundaries.

In the first sentence, the adverb stands alone, telling where the children went. In the second sentence, outside has an object (the park boundaries). However, the phrase still tells where the children went, just with more detail. It is, therefore, an adverbial phrase that modifies the verb "went". Now, let's see how this works with prepositions.

1. The Millers are at home.
2. The Millers are at.

The first sentence above has a prepositional phrase that tells where. The preposition has an object so it makes sense. In the second sentence the preposition is left without an object and, therefore, makes absolutely no sense. Prepositions cannot stand alone; they must have an object. If in doubt as to whether a specific word in a modifying phrase or clause is an adverb or a preposition, just restate it without the object. If it still makes a complete thought, it's an adverb. If not, it's a preposition.

Frequency adverbs are those that tell how often something happens.They modify either action verbs or verbs of being, such as "is" and "are". "Larry is late" is a very simple statement indicating that Larry has not arrived at the expected time. It gives no indication as to how often Larry is late. However, add an adverb, and we now know more about Larry's habits. See how the adverbs in each sentence change your impression of Larry.

1. Larry is occasionally late. Larry is frequently late. Larry is always late.
2. Larry is seldom late. Larry is almost never late. Larry is never late.

Obviously, Larry's punctuality becomes more of an issue with each change in adverb in the first series of statements. We progressed from him being late just this once to him being late all of the time. In the second series, one might assume that the speaker or writer is becoming a bit concerned because it is apparently very out of the ordinary for Larry to be late. Let's look at some other examples of how adverbs can change the meanings of verbs.

1. I constantly recommend Brian Cleary's kidsbooks to teachers and parents.
2. Melissa rarely joins group discussions.
3. Occasionally, Doug reads to his little sister.
4. Gina balances her checkbook weekly.

Look at the word "weekly" in the last sentence. Words such as daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and so forth as often named as adverbs of time. While these words do indicate specific blocks of time, they are not referring to specific points in time. They are, in fact, referring to the Frequency with which something happens.

Degree adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to give them extra "oomph". We humans like to be very expressive in our communications, and adverbs give us all the power we need. Degree adverbs allow us to intensify or add extra visualization power to the other grammatical parts of speech. In the adverbs examples shown below the word being modified is in dark red.

Adverbs Modify Verbs

1. Matthew was completely absorbed in reading his rhyming books by Brian Cleary.
2. The cartoon cats in Brian Cleary's kidsbooks totally entertain children for hours.
3. Parents and teachers fully appreciate the help with teaching children about adverbs.

Adverbs Modify Adjectives

1. Brian Cleary's cats are extremely lovable.
2. Mary Kate has a perfectly adorable cat, too.
3. He laid the partially torn paper on his desk.

Adverbs Modify Other Adverbs

1. The water ran down the hill quite fast.
2. She reads almost nightly.
3. The pen leaked rather rapidly onto his shirt.

Adverbs add great power to our language. However, they can be very confusing—especially for children and those learning English as a second language. Studying the adverbs examples on this page should help greatly. Of course, this is probably too "scholarly" for young children. I, again, recommend Brian Cleary's books about adverbs to help them to a better understanding. They will have a fun-filled experience and learn without even realizing they are learning!

In addition to the five commonly listed forms of adverbs, some educators identify others that require a little explanation and some adverbs examples. It is little wonder that children and those to whom English is a second language have so much difficulty with this part of English grammar basics.


Interrogative adverbs introduce questions. These adverbs turn statements about how, when, where, with what frequency, and to what degree into questions.

1. How far did you run?
2. When did you leave?
3. How often have you done this?

Relative adverbs are like interrogative adverbs, but they do not form questions. Instead they are used to join two statements in an informal way. In every instance of their use, you could replace the relative adverb with a more formal statement. Let's look at a couple of examples.

1. Patty went to the coffee shop where we met for the first time.
2. Patty went to the coffee shop at which we met for the first time.

1. Were you there when he received the award?
2. Were you there at the time at which he received the award?

1. I know how he did that.
2. I know the way in which he did that.

Certainty adverbs are used to express our feelings about the probability of an action or an event.

1. I definitely think adverbs are confusing for most people.
2. He undoubtedly would prefer having steak for dinner.
3. Tonya is unquestionably a better swimmer than Marsha.

One of the first English grammar basics everyone learns is conjunctions. Conjunctions serve a single purpose: to connect. They are used to join together words, sentences, independent and dependent clauses, and phrases. When the word being used to join these sentence parts is an adverb, it is called a conjunctive adverb

1. Alice skipped breakfast; therefore, she doesn't have much energy this morning.
2. The scores were very low; consequently, the teacher reviewed the material again.
3. The climber feared snow was coming; nevertheless, he headed up the mountain.

Comment or attitude adverbs are normally used at the beginning of a sentence. Their function is to let the listener or reader know they are making a comment that expresses an opinion or attitude.

1. Frankly, I just don't care what he thinks.
2. Personally, I believe she is telling the truth.
3. Additionally, we should let the students work in groups.

Adverbs of affirmation and negation are often used in response to a question. However, they may also be used to emphasize the magnitude of affirmation or negation in a sentence.

1. Are you feeling okay? Yes, thank you.
2. Will you go there again? Not soon.
3. It will undoubtedly be a long time before I do that again.
4. I will never quit trying to learn more.
5. Surely he won't run for office this year!

Despite the power of adverbs to make our language more expressive, they also seem to present the most frustration for school children and those learning English as a second language. I am amazed at the number of questions posted on various websites and forums asking about adverbs. One of the reasons, I believe, is the many different ways in which educators classify them. Hopefully, this article has helped many of you with understanding adverbs. For grade-school children, I will again point parents, teachers and other educators in the direction of Brian Cleary with his awesome kidsbooks dealing with most of the grammatical parts of speech. His Words Are CATegorical series should be on the bookshelf of every home, school, and library!

Images Courtesy of OCAL at Clkr.com

guardianstar77 is a writer, graphics design artist, nature enthusiast and lover of everything that resembles a horse. She lives in Central Arkansas and shares her life with a husband of over 40 years, 2 sons, and 5 fabulous grandchildren. guardianstar77 is not domesticated, finding that spending time doing almost anything else beats doing housework. Her passions include recycling, frugal living, feeding the hungry, old-fashioned vintage everything, nature, reading, writing, flea markets and yard sales, Christmas, mystical creatures, carousels, and artwork filled with glorious earthy colors.

guardianstar77 is a devout Christian, a staunch conservative, a passionate American, and a defender of capitalism. Although she is, by her own definition, somewhat of a "professional hermit crab", guardianstar77 is deeply loyal to her family and those she chooses to have as friends. When not pursuing writing and artistic goals, she spends her time deepening those relationships.

Being born in the state of Missouri and having recently discovered a passion for the Missouri state animal— the mule—guardianstar77 developed yet another persona—that of a mule, specifically a Missouri Mule .

guardianstar77 is a long-standing member of Squidoo, and she shares her royalties with many Squidoo charities. View all my lenses!