Adverb more than one word

Adverbs can take different positions in a sentence. It depends on the type of sentence and on what role the adverb plays and what words the adverb defines, characterizes, describes.

Most often, we put adverbs after the verb but before adjectives, other adverbs, or participles.

She walked quickly away.
He runs slowly along.

Adverb and three main positions

There are three main positions for an adverb in a sentence:

• before the verb
• at the beginning of a sentence
• at the end of a sentence

Let’s look at these positions separately.

At the end

We put an Adverb at the end of a sentence after the predicate and the object.

The water is rising fast.

At the beginning

We put an adverb at the beginning of a sentence before the subject.

Today I have a piano lesson.

In the middle

Most often, we put an adverb in the middle of a sentence. But “middle” is not an accurate concept. Where exactly this middle is located, it depends on the words next to which we use the adverb.

1. In interrogative sentences, we put an adverb between the subject and the main verb.

Did he often go out like that?

1. If the predicate in the sentence is only one verb, then we put the adverb before the verb.

You rarely agree with me.

1. If the predicate contains more than one word, then we put the adverb after the modal verb or after the auxiliary verb (if there is a modal verb or auxiliary verb).

You must never do this again.

There are adverbs that we can put before a modal verb or an auxiliary verb.

He surely can prepare for this.

Adverb placement depending on the type of adverb

The place of an adverb depends on what type of adverbs it belongs to. Different adverbs can appear in different places.

Adverbs of manner

We usually use Adverbs of manner:

• before main verbs
• after auxiliary verbs
• at the end of the sentence

1. If the verb is in the Passive Voice, then we use an adverb between the auxiliary verb and the verb in the third form.
2. We usually use Adverbs of manner after the verb or after the Object.
3. We can NOT use an Adverb of manner between the verb and direct object. If the sentence has a verb and a direct object, then we use an adverb of manner before the verb or after the object.
4. Usually we put an adverb of manner that answers the question HOW after the verb or after the verb and the object.

She held the baby gently.
We are running slowly.

1. We usually put the adverbs well, fast, quickly, immediately, slowly at the end of a sentence.

I wrote him an answer immediately.
The truck picked up speed slowly.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency are adverbs that indicate how often, with what frequency an action occurs.

Adverbs of frequency answer the question “How often?“

1. Most often we put Adverbs of frequency before the main verb.
2. We can use normally, occasionally, sometimes, usually at the beginning of a sentence or at the end of a sentence.
3. We usually put Adverbs of frequency that accurately describe the time (weekly, every day, every Saturday) at the end of a sentence.

We have another board meeting on Monday.
I wish we could have fried chicken every week.
Maybe we could do this every month.

1. We put Adverbs of frequency after the verb to be if the sentence contains the verb to be in the form of Present Simple or Past Simple.

My routine is always the same.

1. We often use usually, never, always, often, sometimes, ever, rarely in the middle of a sentence.

I often wish I knew more about gardening.

1. We can use usually at the beginning of a sentence.

Usually, I keep it to myself.

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree express the degree to which something is happening. These are such adverbs as:

• almost
• absolutely
• completely
• very
• quite
• extremely
• rather
• just
• totally

1. We put Adverbs of degree in the middle of a sentence.
2. We put Adverbs of degree after Auxiliary Verbs.
3. We put Adverbs of degree after modal verbs.

I feel really guilty about that.

1. We put Adverbs of degree before adjectives.

When guns speak it is too late to argue.

1. We put Adverbs of degree before other adverbs.

He loses his temper very easily.

1. Sometimes we put Adverbs of degree before modal verbs and before auxiliary verbs. Usually, we use such adverbs as:

• certainly
• definitely
• really
• surely

You definitely could have handled things better.
I think I really could have won.

1. The adverb enough is an exception to this rule. We put the Adverb enough after the word it characterizes.

I have lived long enough.

Adverbs of place and time

Let’s see where we use the adverbs of place and adverbs of time.

1. Most often we put the adverb of place and time at the end of the sentence.

I thought you didn’t have family nearby.
They found her place in Miami yesterday.

1. We put monosyllabic adverbs of time (for example, such as now, then, soon) before main verbs but after auxiliary verbs including the verb to be.

Now imagine you see another woman.
Yes, he is now a respectable man.

1. We can use adverbs of place and time at the very beginning of a sentence when we want to make the sentence more emotional.

Today, we have to correct his mistakes.

1. We put the adverbs here and there at the end of the sentence.

Independent thought is not valued there.

1. Most often we put adverbs of place and time after the verb or verb + object.

I can’t change what happened yesterday.
You have to attend my wedding next month.

1. Most often we put such adverbs as towards, outside, backward, everywhere, nearby, downstairs, southward, at the end of the sentence or in the middle of the sentence, but immediately after the verb.

I made iced tea and left it downstairs.
With this speaker, you can hear everything outside.
I can run backward!

1. We put adverbs of time that accurately define the time (for example, yesterday, now, tomorrow) at the end of the sentence.

The ship is going to be back tomorrow.

He wants it to happen now.

If we want to emphasize time, we can put an adverb that accurately specifies the time at the beginning of the sentence.

Tomorrow I’m moving to Palais Royal.

Adverbs that show the speaker’s degree of confidence.

Let’s talk about the place in the sentence occupied by Adverbs that show the speaker’s degree of confidence in what the speaker is saying.

1. We can put at the beginning of the sentence such adverbs as:

• definitely
• perhaps
• probably
• certainly
• clearly
• maybe
• obviously

Certainly, you have an opinion about that.

Definitely think twice before correcting one of your mistakes again.

Maybe someone else was in her apartment that night.

We can also put adverbs like this in the middle of a sentence:

They’ll probably name a street after me.
This assumption is clearly no longer valid.

Adverbs that emphasize the meaning of the word they describe

The next group of adverbs is adverbs that emphasize the meaning of the word they describe.

1. Look at the following adverbs:

• very
• really
• terribly
• extremely
• almost
• quite
• pretty

We usually put such adverbs in the middle of the sentence before the word that these adverbs characterize.

He is very tired.
She found it extremely difficult to get a job.
I’m quite happy to wait for you here.

Adverbs defining a verb

1. We put an adverb after the verb to be. If the adverb defines the verb to be in one of its forms.

He was never a good man.

1. If an adverb defines another adverb or adjective, then we put such an adverb most often before the word that it defines.

I can see it quite clearly.
They walked rather slowly.

Adverbs connecting sentences

Adverbs can connect sentences in a logical sequence.

Such adverbs can appear at the beginning of the sentence or in the middle of the sentence. These are such adverbs as:

• next
• anyway
• however
• besides
• next

Adverbs that explain the speaker’s point of view

Let’s take a look at Adverbs that explain the speaker’s point of view in what he says.

• fortunately
• surprisingly
• personally

We most often put them at the beginning of the sentence.

Honestly, I wish I had time to do more reading.
Often their homes are their only major material possession.

We can put some of these adverbs at the end of a sentence.

I know what you’ve done for me, honestly.

Always, Never, and Only

Now let’s talk about some adverbs separately. These are very popular adverbs that we often use in English.

1. Always and never.

We usually put always and never in the middle of the sentence before the verb they define.

The bread always falls buttered side down.
Love is never paid but with true love.

1. Only.

Only is an incredibly popular adverb. Most often, we put only before the word that the adverb only characterizes.

Wisdom is only found in truth.
A man can only die once.

Additional tips

If we have two or more adverbs to define one verb, then the order of these adverbs should be as follows:

1. Adverb of manner
2. Adverb of place
3. Adverb of time

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An adverbial phrase is a group of words used in the same way as an adverb to add further information or detail to a verb, adjective, another adverb, or even whole clauses.

The word ‘phrase’ is the key, as this means that it is more than one word, rather than a single adverb. 

But let’s look at it in more detail. 

The Difference between Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases

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This can get quite confusing as you may hear these terms discussed in differing grammar books or websites in reference to adverbs:

• Adverbs
• Adverb Phrases
• Adverbial Phrases

They all have the same function i.e. to explain how, where, why or when something was done.

But the way that they tend to be distinguished in grammatical terms is that an adverb is a single word and an adverb phrase is two or more adverbs together.

However, an adverbial phrase is a more informative group of words that will contain other words apart from adverbs and may or may not actually contain an adverb.

So as you will see from the last one, units of words can function as adverbs without actually containing an adverb. In the last example, the adverbial phrase is actually a prepositional phrase acting as an adverbial phrase. 

However, ‘adverb phrase’ and ‘adverbial phrase’ are often used interchangeably, so you should not dwell on which is which.

The key thing is that an adverb is one word, but an adverb/adverbial phrase is more than one.  

Now we’ll look at the most common types of adverbial phrase, which are:

• Manner
• Time
• Place

Adverbial Phrases of Manner

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An adverbial phrase of manner answers the question how?

These are all adverbials of manner, but there is only one actual adverb in there — very. 

Adverbial Phrases of Time

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Adverbial phrases of time state when or how often something happens, or for how long.

Adverbial Phrases of Place

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Adverbial phrases of place answer the question where?

You will see then that in a lot of these examples, it is prepositional phrases acting as adverbial phrases. 

What are Fronted Adverbial Phrases?

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This is when the phrase is placed at the start of a sentence.

The purpose of fronting is either simply to vary sentence structures to make a piece of writing more interesting or to draw attention to that part of the sentence because it is seen to be important.

Here are some fronted adverbial examples:

The Difference between Adverbial Phrases and Clauses

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The difference here is quite simple.

The key difference between phrases and clauses is that a clause contains a subject-verb combination whereas a phrase does not.

As an example, take a look at these two adverbials of time (answering the question ‘how long did she keep phoning for‘), one a phrase and one a clause:

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An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or an entire sentence. Adverbs are usually single words that often end in -ly, and in many cases, adverbs are constructed by adding -ly to the adjective counterparts (e.g., beautiful → beautifully).

Adverbs can be used to describe how something is done or to tell how many or how much of something there is. Using adverbs can be helpful to provide a more detailed description in a sentence.

There are five types of adverbs: time, manner, degree, place, and frequency. The adverbs in each of the five categories are used in sentences to describe when, how, to what extent, where, and how often something is done.

Types of adverbs

Using Adverbs with Verbs

Adverbs modify verbs to describe how the action is happening. An adverb usually comes right before or after the verb it modifies.

The adverb, quickly, is used to describe how he ran.

The adverb “carefully” is used to describe how she took out a book.

Both adverbs in the two sentences above, “quickly” and “carefully,” describe how the action was performed. How did he run? How did she take out a book?

Using Adverbs with Adjectives

Adverbs modify adjectives to modify the level of intensity of the adjectives.

The adverb, slightly, is used to modify how late I will be to the party.

The adverb “pretty” is used to modify how well you have done the job. Both adverbs in the two sentences above, “slightly” and “pretty,” modify the adjectives to describe the extent of how something was done.

Using Adverbs with Other Adverbs

Adverbs modify other adverbs to intensify the adverbs. Most of the time, an adverb that modifies another adverb should be placed right before the adverb it modifies.

The adverb “extremely” is used to modify another adverb “quickly.”

The adverb “so” is used to modify another adverb, “fast.” Both adverbs in the two sentences above, “extremely” and “so,” modify the adverbs placed right next to them to describe the extent of the adverbs they modify.

Adverbial Phrases

An adverbial phrase is a group of words that function as an adverb. While an adverb is a single word in many cases, an adverbial phrase consists of more than one word to add more information to a verb, adjective, another adverb, or an entire sentence. An adverbial phrase can function as an adverb even without containing an adverb in the group of words. Adverbial phrases often contain a preposition.

In this sentence, the adverbial phrase “to get some groceries” is used to describe the purpose of going to the store.

In this sentence, the adverbial phrase “over there near the park” is used to describe the place where he parked his car.

Showing Degrees of Comparison

Adverb forms can be changed to show degrees of comparison just as adjective forms are changed (busy, busier, busiest).

Flat adverbs

An adverb that looks the same as its adjective counterpart is called a flat adverb. For a flat adverb, the comparative and superlative forms look the same as the comparative and superlative forms of its adjective counterpart.

Adverbs that ends in -ly

For comparative and superlative forms of adverbs that end in “-ly,” the words more and most are used.

One-syllable adverbs

For the comparative form of a one-syllable adverb, -er is placed at the end of the root verb form. For the superlative form, -est is used.

Irregular adverb forms

There are also irregular comparative and superlative forms of adverbs.

Adverb Placement

Generally, adverbs should be placed right before or after (or as close as possible) to the words they are supposed to modify.

There are three places where an adverb can be placed:
1)At the very beginning of a sentence
2)Before the main verb
3)After the main verb or at the end of a sentence

In many cases, an adverb can be placed in either of the three places, and it may not affect the meaning of the sentence.

Regardless of where the adverbs “quickly” and “cheerfully” are placed, the meaning of all the sentences remains the same. In this case, the placement of the adverb is merely a stylistic choice.

However, in other cases, misplacing the adverbs can completely change the meaning.

These two sentences have two different meanings. The first sentence means “All I want to do is go to the mall,” and the second sentence means “The only place I want to go is the mall.”

In the first sentence, the adverb “especially” emphasizes the subject “you,” while in the second sentence, the adverb emphasizes the fact that it is her that should be treated nicely. In the third sentence, “especially” modifies the adverb “nicely.”

Because of these potentially ambiguous meanings, it is best to place the adverb right next to the verb it is modifying.

Placing adverbs with intransitive verbs

When an adverb is used with an intransitive verb, in some cases the adverb is placed after the intransitive verb to avoid making the sentence sound awkward.

However, for adverbs of frequency such as never, always, often, rarely, and seldom, the adverbs should always be placed before the intransitive verb.

Common Adverb Mistakes

Adverbs indicating frequency usually go before the main verb.

Adverbs indicating manner usually go at the very end of the sentence.

The adverb enough always goes after the verb it modifies.

Good vs Well

“Good” is an adjective and “well” is an adverb. However, these two words are often misused in many cases.

In academic writing, it is better to avoid using adverbs since they can cause ambiguity and increase word count. Instead of using adverbs, apply one-word verbs that are more powerful and precise.

 Note: I’ve made a printable PDF of the conjunctive adverbs available. See link at the bottom of the article.

Yesterday, I did a post on the common problem of comma splices. During my explanation of how to fix this error, I mentioned conjunctive adverbs, so I thought some more information might be helpful. It may not be the most fascinating topic, but it’s simple and important.

What Is a Conjunctive Adverb?

A conjunctive adverb is a kind of double-duty word that serves the role of both a conjunction and an adverb (some call them adverbial conjunctions).  Conjunctions connect words or word groups. Adverbs modify verbs or other modifiers. Conjunctive adverbs do both.

List of Conjunctive Adverbs

Here is a list of conjunctive adverbs. Be aware that some of these words may be used as other parts of speech as well, depending on the context. Only when they are used to join independent clauses (word groups that can stand alone as sentences) are they considered conjunctive adverbs.

Sometimes we use more than one word to create a compound conjunctive adverbs. They work exactly the same way. Here are some common compound conjunctive adverbs:

 Conjunctive adverbs always connect independent clauses – word groups that can stand alone as a complete sentence. When they connect ideas between two sentences, they normally need  commas to separate them from the clause:

I ordered two plates of spaghetti. Afterwards, I felt sick.     

I drove to Memphis. Sally,  on the other hand, chose to fly.

When they connect independent clauses within the same sentence, they are preceded by a semicolon, and usually followed by a comma;

I did the best I could; however, I couldn’t finish before nightfall.

I like to go to the movies; in particular, I enjoy action films on the big screen.

Why Should I Care About Conjunctive Adverbs?

Besides the obvious fact that discussing obscure grammar terms is a surefire way to be the life of any party, there is a practical reason for knowing how to use them in your writing.

When I was in college I would help my non-English-major friends write papers. Often, I’d return a draft with the simple advice, “You need more howevers and therefores.” And I meant it. I would show them a good spot for a moreover or an in addition. Every now and then I’d sprinkle in a consequently or a nevertheless. No kidding — it did wonders for the paper.

Judicious use of conjunctive adverbs does two things. First, it sounds good. A writer who can use these words well sounds confident and smart. Compare:

• Hemingway was miserable, so he committed suicide.
• Hemingway was miserable; therefore, he committed suicide.

• I prefer Faulkner to Hemingway, but many feel otherwise.
• I prefer Faulkner to Hemingway; however, many feel otherwise.

Conjunctive adverbs convey a formal, academic tone. This can be useful in term papers, literary analysis, and particularly in essays on standardized tests like the SAT.

More important than tone, however, conjunctive adverbs are handy transition devices. Shifting from one idea to another is a challenge for many novice writers. Rookie writing tends to be choppy, with abrupt changes of direction. Conjunctive adverbs are often the perfect solution. Because they are conjunctions, they connect ideas, and because they are also adverbs, they suggest the reason for the connection. Well-placed conjunctive adverbs are bridges that take the reader from sentence to sentence or paragraph to paragraph.

If you struggle with making smooth transitions, learn a handful of these handy words.

For a printable, reference version of this post, click HERE.

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What is the order of adverbs?

Because adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, phrases, clauses, or even entire sentences, they are able to function nearly anywhere in the sentence, depending on their type and what it is they are modifying.

If we use more than one adverb to describe a verb, though, there is a general order in which the different categories of adverbs should appear—this is known as the order of adverbs (sometimes called the royal order of adverbs):

• 1. Manner
• 2. Place
• 3. Frequency
• 4. Time
• 5. Purpose

Of course, it is uncommon to use five adverbs in a row to modify the same word, but if a sentence uses two or three, then it is best to follow this order to avoid sounding unnatural.

First, let’s briefly summarize the different categories of adverbs, and then we’ll look at how we can use them together in sentences.

(*Note: For the sake of conciseness, both single-word adverbs and adverbial phrases will be referred to together as “adverbs” throughout this section.)

Categories of Adverbs

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens, how someone does something, or give character to a description. They are usually formed by adding “-ly” to an adjective, as in:

• “She sings beautifully.”
• “He walks slowly.”
• “The children are playing happily.”

If an adjective already ends in “-ly,” we can give it an adverbial function by simply using it in the prepositional phrase “in a ______ manner”:

• “They played in a lively manner.”
• “Please arrive in a timely manner.”

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place tell us about an aspect of location associated with the action of a verb, specifying the direction, distance, movement, or position involved in the action.

For example:

• “He kicked the ball into the field.”
• “Let’s drive down a bit farther.”
• “Everyone gazed upwards at the meteor shower.”
• “I’ve looked everywhere for my book.”

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency (sometimes called frequency adverbs) tell us how often something happens or is the case. They are sometimes used to describe definite frequency, as in:

• “I run eight miles daily.”
• “Every year, our office holds a big raffle for charity.”

More often, though, these adverbs are used to describe indefinite frequency. For example:

• “We usually go to the movies on Sundays.”
• “Bethany always runs late for work in the morning.”

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time tell us when or for how long something happens or is the case. They are similar to but distinct from adverbs of frequency.

For example:

• “I’m going to the movies tomorrow.”
• “Next year, I’m going to run for president.”
• “We’ve been dating for 10 years, and not once has he proposed!”
• “Are you still working on that project?”

Adverbs of Purpose

• “Jen hadn’t enjoyed the play; as a result, she didn’t recommend it.”
• “The clothing is handcrafted and hence expensive.”
• “Given the huge amount of public interest, they are extending the program for another three months.”
• “I went to the store to buy some milk.”
• “I am exhausted because I was working all night.”

Using multiple adverbs

Remember, the order of adverbs is manner, place, frequency, time, and purpose.

As we already noted, it is unusual to find several adverbs consecutively modifying the same word. However, if we were to make a sentence with all five categories of adverbs together, it might look like this:

• “I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) each morning (frequency) after breakfast (time) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).”

Even though the string of adverbs is unusually long, the sentence still sounds smooth and logical because the order is correct. Now let’s try rearranging the order of the adverbs:

• “I have to run each morning (frequency) quickly (manner) after breakfast (time) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose) down the street (place).”

By changing the order of the adverbs, we’ve actually changed the meaning of the sentence, or at least made the original meaning nearly incomprehensible. This is especially apparent with the adverbial phrase of purpose in order to catch my bus to school—by placing it before the adverb of place, it now sounds as though it’s the school that’s down the street. There is not such a drastic shift in meaning for the adverbs of frequency, manner, and time, but they still sound awkward and unnatural in the new order.

When we can change the order

There is a great deal of flexibility regarding where in a sentence an adverb can appear, regardless of its content and the rules of order that we looked at above. While the order of adverbs is useful to keep in mind, it is a guide, rather than a law.

Introductory adverbs

As you may have noticed when we looked at the different categories of adverbs, adverbs can appear in different places in a sentence. When an adverb is used at the beginning a sentence, it results in a great deal of emphasis. Depending on the sentence, we can do this with nearly any category of adverb regardless of the order of adverbs—although we must always be careful that doing so does not make the sentence awkward or alter its meaning.

For example, let’s look at the example sentence again, this time slightly shifting where in the sentence the adverbs appear:

• “In order to catch my bus to school (purpose), I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) each morning (frequency) after breakfast (time).”

Placing the adverb of purpose at the beginning of the sentence doesn’t alter the meaning in any way—instead, it gives the adverb extra emphasis and highlights the purpose of the entire sentence.

In this particular sentence, we can move the adverb of frequency to the beginning of the sentence as well:

• “Each morning (frequency), I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) after breakfast (time) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).”

We can also do this with the adverb of time, but in this instance it has to be moved with the adverb of frequency; otherwise, the sentence sounds awkward. For example, compare these two sentence constructions:

• “Each morning (frequency) after breakfast (time), I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).” (correct)
• “After breakfast (time), I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) each morning (frequency) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).” (incorrect)

We can see that the adverb of time sounds awkward when it is placed by itself at the beginning of this particular sentence.

Adverbs of manner and place can also sometimes go at the beginning of the sentence, but we have to be careful with how the sentence sounds as a whole. For example, neither would work well at the beginning of the example above because the emphasis placed on them would sound unnatural as a result. However, in a different sentence, this emphasis might be suitable. For instance:

• “On my father’s ranch (place), I often (frequency) helped gather the animals at the end of the day (time).”
• “Impatiently (manner), I waited by the bank (place) for my father to arrive (purpose).”

Short vs. long adverbs

Generally speaking, we also tend to put adverbs that are shorter and more concise before those that are longer, regardless of which category they belong to (though we must make sure that the information’s meaning doesn’t change as a result). For example:

• “I lived with my parents (place) to save money (purpose) while I was working on my doctorate (time).”
• “He dances every night (frequency) in the most extraordinary way (manner).”

Multiple adverbs of the same category

When we use multiple adverbs of the same category to modify the same verb, we order them based on how specific the information is that they provide. For example:

• “On my father’s ranch (place), I often (frequency) helped gather the animals at the end of the day (specific time) when I was younger (non-specific time).”
• “I lived at home (more specific place) with my parents (less specific place) to save money (purpose) while I was working on my doctorate (time).”