Adverbs

By Crashnibbles, 13th Jun 2010 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/1se8se4./
Posted in Wikinut>Writing>Graphology

Some things that are nice to know about adverbs.

Adverbs

Vocabulary

Adverb: a word that describes or modifies another verb, adjective, or adverb

Negative: a word that means “no” or “not”

Double Negative: 2 negatives used together to modify or describe 1 negative idea or thought

Positive: the opposite of a negative, a word meaning “yes”, “some”, or “any”, the positive form of a negative

Notes

Adverbs that modify verbs answer/describe “how, “when”, or “where” something happened
Many adjectives that modify verbs end in “-ly” (rapidly, cheekily)
When describing other adjectives or adverbs, adverbs can answer “to what extent” something happened instead of “how” it happened (a very big group came super fast); very describes big which describes group, and super describes fast which describes came
Adverbs can be used to make comparisons of adverbs, verbs, and adjectives
Adverbs can come before or after the target word that they modify
To compare 2 things use the comparative form of an adverb, for 3 or more things use the superlative form of an adverb
adverb
comparative
superlative

speedily
more speedily
most speedily

sharply
more sharply
most sharply

creepily
more creepily
most creepily

When you compare actions or qualities that are less rather than more use “less” or “least” instead of “more” or “most”
If the adverb ends in “-ly”, then add “more” or “most” to make comparisons instead of “-est” or “-er”
Don’t combine “-er” with more or “-est” with most
Some adverbs have irregular superlative and comparative forms
adverb
comparative
superlative

well
better
best

badly
worse
worst

little
less
least

much
more
most

Some words mean “no” or “not” (negatives), they can reverse the meaning of a sentence or phrase (I did/ I did not)
Some examples of common negatives are “no, not, none, never, no one, nobody, nothing, and nowhere)
Don’t use double negatives to describe or modify a negative
Don’t use double negatives to modify 1 thing or action
Most negatives have opposites, or positives
negative
positive

don’t
do

never
ever

nowhere
anywhere/somewhere

no
any/some/yes

none
some

neither
either

nothing
everything/ something

To prevent double negatives, you can replace the negative with a positive form of the negative
To not get adjectives and adverbs confused with each other, remember that:
When an adjective and an adverb sound or look alike the adverb probably ends in “-ly”
adjective
adverb

quick
quickly

silent
silently

loud
loudly

bad
badly

sweet
sweetly

sharp
sharply

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
Good is an adjective, but well is usually an adverb (it is an adverb when it means “healthy”)
You can turn and adjective into an adverb by adding the suffix “-ly” (some adjectives don’t work with this rule)