Adverbs in English. Adverbs in English

Even those who claim that English is complex cannot but agree that adverbs in English are incredibly easy to understand. They are built simply, and there are very few exceptions to the rules.

What is an adverb?

One cannot begin the explanation of the construction of adverbs without understanding what it really is. It is not difficult for us, Russian-speaking people, to learn how to apply this part of speech primarily because in the Russian language there are already similar words that are built on the same principle.

If we turn to the Russian dialect, then it means a sign of the action of the subject, its quality and condition. It answers the following questions: how? when? why? how much? where to? Where? how long? An adverb can refer to an adjective and even to another adverb, describing their characteristics. In a word, this part of the speech is very capacious, without it the Russian language would have become much poorer.

English dialects

Using adverbs is not a very difficult task, because we do it very well in our native language. Adverbs in the English language do not fundamentally differ from the Russian "brethren", therefore their assimilation is very accessible and does not require much stress.

All dialects in English are divided into three main groups, namely: simple (consisting of one word, which you just need to learn, like any other English), complex and derivatives. Let's consider them in more detail.

Types of adverbs in English

• Simple adverbs, which are represented in one word, and you do not need to add any endings or suffixes to them, for example: often, now, never .
• Derived adverbs, or adverbs, formed by adding a suffix or ending. Such suffixes are: ly, ward (s), like . For example, cold + ly - coldly - cold, slow + ly - slowly - slowly. Examples of using other suffixes are: backwards-backward, clockwise-clockwise.
• Complex adverbs, consisting of two words, which are written either separately or together. For example, sometimes - sometimes, everywhere-everywhere, everybody-everything, everyone, forever-forever.

Having studied the table, you will understand that there is nothing easier than the adverbs in English! The table is presented below.

Exceptions

Words that strongly resemble adverbs are nevertheless available in English. However, there are not many of them, and it is not difficult to remember them.

For example, the word hardly is very similar to an adverb, although in reality it means “hardly”, while the word hard is a simple adverb and translates as “diligently”.

There is also a number of words that look quite like adjectives, in fact they are adverbs. Among these words are the following: friendly - friendly, silly - stupid, lovely - cute, olderly - old.

A quite natural question arises: how not to get confused and start using an adverb in speech instead of an adjective and vice versa?

In fact, everything is very simple: you just need to remember that in English everything is very clear, and each word has its place in the sentence. If a doubtful word confronts a noun, it is an adjective; if it is before a verb, then it is an adverb. For a clear understanding, we give examples:

They are so freindly people! - They are such friendly people! In this case, a noun is described, which means friendly is an adjective.

He is driving very quickly - He drives a car very fast. In this example, quickly characterizes the verb, which, in turn, is an adverb.

Adverb as a circumstance

Adverbs can be divided not only by their structure, but also by the type of circumstance by which they are expressed.

• Temporary adverbs express temporal characteristics, for example: now - now, now, seldom-rarely. Adverbs of time in English are responsible for time indicators and are a very important part of speech.
• Adverbs indicating the location: behind - behind, there - there, here - here.
• Adverbs characterizing how this or that action occurs : loadly - loudly, sadly - sadly, quietly - quietly.
• Adverbs characterizing the quantity and degree: little - little, quite - quite.

Without such words, the speech would look wretched and meager, but, fortunately, they exist and adorn English very much!

Match adverbs and adjectives

Very often adverbs are completely similar to adjectives, differing only in their place in the sentence, which helps to determine what is in front of us.

For example, cheap - is both an adjective ("cheap") and an adverb ("cheap").

Consider the following examples:

• This car was very cheap. - This car was very cheap. In this case, cheap refers to a noun, respectively, being an adjective.
• I have eaten very cheap - I ate very cheap. In this sentence, cheap characterizes action and is an adverb.

Compare adverbs

It turns out that English dialects can also be compared, as well as adjectives.

The principle of operation is the same, namely: there are the same two degrees of comparison - comparative and excellent, which are formed in exactly the same way as in the case of adjectives. Is this not a gift?

• A comparative degree can be obtained by adding the ending -er to the adverb if the word is simple. For example, hard + -er is harder . And of course, a usage example in a sentence: You should study harder and harde to learn French. “To learn French, you should study harder and harder.” If the dialect is long, then more is added. For example: You look more happily than yesterday. “You look happier than yesterday.”
• An excellent degree is formed by analogy with the same degree as adjectives, namely, by adding the ending -est for short words and most for long ones. For example: he has run the fastest - He ran everyone faster. Just do not forget about the definite article the ! Its presence is mandatory before an excellent degree of comparison.
• However, even here there are exceptions. Consider them in the form of a table:

As can be seen from the table, all exceptions almost exactly repeat the exclusion of degrees of comparison of adjectives.

Adverbs in English can and should be memorized and applied for better assimilation.

Practice it? Yes, it is a must! In order, draw up the degrees of comparison for the following adverbs:

1. slowly;
2. easily;
3. perfectly;
4. little;
5. fast.

Undoubtedly, everything worked out perfectly for you. Congratulations! The use of adverbs in English should no longer cause difficulties, with which you can be congratulated!