Is the word liked an adverb

In English texts and everyday communication, the word “like” serves a variety of purposes. It can act as an adjective, a preposition, an adverb, a conjunction, a noun, or a verb.

1. Adjective

This word is classified under adjectives if it is used to modify a noun or a pronoun by indicating similarities in qualities or characteristics. For example, in the sentence below:

You’re not talking about like things when you compare football and golf.

The word “like” is used as an adjective that describes the noun “things.”

Definition:

a. having the same or similar qualities

• Example:
• I responded in like manner.

1. Preposition

Another common function of the word “like” is as a preposition that also means “for example” or “similar to.” In the sample sentence below:

Their house is like a barn.

The word “like” is used as a preposition that indicates that the “house” is similar to a “barn.”

Definition:

a. having the same characteristics or qualities as

• Example:
• There were other suits like mine in the shop.

b. used to draw attention to the nature of an action or event

• Example:
• We apologize for coming over unannounced like this.

c. such as; for example

• Example:
• They discussed books like 1984 and Animal Farm.

1. Adverb

The word ”like” can also be categorized as an adverb if it is used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Take for example, the sentence below:

The distance is more like 750 miles.

In this sentence, the word modifies the adjective “750,” and is therefore considered as an adverb.

Definition:

a. nearly; approximately

• Example:
• It was like 8 feet deep.

b. used in speech as a meaningless filler or to signify the speaker’s uncertainty about an expression just used

• Example:
• There was this funny smell—sort of dusty like.

1. Conjunction

There are also some cases wherein the word “like” is used as a conjunction that connects two clauses to form one sentence. For instance, in the sample sentence below:

I hate girls who change boyfriends like they change clothes.

The word “like” serves as a conjunction that links together the clauses “I hate girls who change boyfriends” and “they change clothes.”

Definition:

a. in the same way that; as

• Example:
• They raven down scenery like children do sweetmeats.

b. as though; as if

• Example:
• I felt like I’d been kicked by a horse.

1. Noun

Other times, the word “like” is considered as a noun, which refers to something of the same kind. In the example:

Did you ever hear the like?

The word “like” is used as a noun that is used to indicate a thing of the same kind.

Definition:

a. a thing or things of the same kind

• Example:
• We will never see anyone of her like again.
  

1. Verb

The word “like” is also typically used as a verb that indicates a state of being. Take for example, the sentence:

He likes baseball more than anything.

In this sentence, the word suggests the state of being of the pronoun “he,” and is therefore considered as a verb.

Definition:

a. to enjoy (something); to get pleasure from (something)

• Example:
• I like all Dan Brown’s books.
  

b. wish for; want

• Example:
• Would you like a cup of tea?

For those interested in a little info about this site: it’s a side project that I developed while working on Describing Words and Related Words. Both of those projects are based around words, but have much grander goals. I had an idea for a website that simply explains the word types of the words that you search for — just like a dictionary, but focussed on the part of speech of the words. And since I already had a lot of the infrastructure in place from the other two sites, I figured it wouldn’t be too much more work to get this up and running.

The dictionary is based on the amazing Wiktionary project by wikimedia. I initially started with WordNet, but then realised that it was missing many types of words/lemma (determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and many more). This caused me to investigate the 1913 edition of Websters Dictionary — which is now in the public domain. However, after a day’s work wrangling it into a database I realised that there were far too many errors (especially with the part-of-speech tagging) for it to be viable for Word Type.

Finally, I went back to Wiktionary — which I already knew about, but had been avoiding because it’s not properly structured for parsing. That’s when I stumbled across the UBY project — an amazing project which needs more recognition. The researchers have parsed the whole of Wiktionary and other sources, and compiled everything into a single unified resource. I simply extracted the Wiktionary entries and threw them into this interface! So it took a little more work than expected, but I’m happy I kept at it after the first couple of blunders.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: the UBY project (mentioned above), @mongodb and express.js.

Currently, this is based on a version of wiktionary which is a few years old. I plan to update it to a newer version soon and that update should bring in a bunch of new word senses for many words (or more accurately, lemma).

An adverb is a part of speech (or word class) that’s primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverbs and can additionally modify prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. Put another way, adverbs are content words that provide information about how, when, or where something happens. Adverbs are also called intensifiers because they intensify the meaning of the word or words they are modifying, notes Your Dictionary.

An adverb that modifies an adjective—as in quite sad—or another adverb—as in very carelessly—appears immediately in front of the word it modifies, but one that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: It may appear before or after—as in softly sang or sang softly—or at the beginning of the sentence—Softly she sang to the baby—with the position of an adverb typically affecting the meaning of the sentence. Adverbs can modify a verb or adjective in several ways, by providing information about emphasis, manner, time, place, and frequency.

Adverbs of Emphasis

Adverbs of emphasis are used to give added force or a greater degree of certainty to another word in a sentence or to the sentence as a whole, for example:

• He certainly liked the food.
• She is clearly the frontrunner.
• Naturally, I like my chicken crispy.

Other common adverbs of emphasis include absolutely, definitely, obviously, positively, really, simply, and undoubtedly. These types of adverbs serve to bolster the part of speech they modify.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner indicate how something is done. They are usually placed at the end of a sentence or before the main verb, as in:

• Tom drives quickly.
• She slowly opened the door.
• Mary waited for him patiently.

Other examples of adverbs of manner include quietly, fitfully, and carefully.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time tell you when or at what time something is done. Adverbs of time are usually placed at the end of a sentence. They can also be used at the beginning of a sentence followed by a comma.

• The meeting is next week. 
• Yesterday, we decided to take a walk.
• I’ve already bought my tickets for the concert. 

These adverbs are used with other time expressions, such as days of the week. The most common adverbs of time include yet, already, yesterday, tomorrow, next week (or month or year), last week (or month or year), now, and ago.

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place indicate where something is done and usually appear at the end of a sentence, but they can also follow the verb.

• I decided to rest over there.
• She’ll wait for you in the room downstairs.
• Peter walked above me upstairs. 

Adverbs of place can be confused with prepositional phrases such as in the doorway or at the shop. Prepositional phrases indicate where something is, but adverbs of place can tell you where something occurs, such as here and everywhere.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency tell you how often something is repeatedly done. They include usually, sometimes, never, often, and rarely. Adverbs of frequency are often placed directly before the main verb:

• She rarely goes to parties.
• I often read a newspaper.
• He usually gets up at 6 o’clock.

Adverbs of frequency that express infrequency are not used in the negative or question form. Sometimes, adverbs of frequency are placed at the beginning of a sentence:

• Sometimes, I enjoy staying at home instead of going on vacation.
• Often, Peter will telephone his mother before he leaves for work.

Adverbs of frequency follow the verb to be:

• He is sometimes late for work.
• I am often confused by computers.

Adverbs Modifying Adjectives

When adverbs modify an adjective, they are placed before the adjective:

• She is extremely happy.
• They are absolutely sure.

However, do not use very with adjectives to express increased quality of a basic adjective, such as fantastic:

• She is an absolutely fantastic piano player.
• Mark is an absolutely amazing lecturer.

You would not say, «She is very fantastic,» or «Mark is a very amazing lecturer.»

Forming Adverbs From Adjectives

Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective, such as:

• Beautiful > beautifully
• Careful > carefully

However, some adjectives don’t change in the adverb form, such as fast and hard. Many common adverbs like just, still, and almost do not end in -ly. Good is probably the most important example. The adverb form of good is well, as in:

• He is good at tennis.
• He plays tennis well.

In the first sentence, good is an adjective that modifies the pronoun he; while in the second, well is an adverb that modifies plays (explains how he plays tennis). Additionally, not all words that end in -ly are adverbs, such as friendly and neighborly, which are both adjectives.

Distinguishing Between Adverbs and Adjectives

Sometimes the same word can be both an adjective and an adverb. To distinguish between them, it is important to look at the context of the word and its function in a sentence. 

For instance, in the sentence, «The fast train from London to Cardiff leaves at 3 o’clock,» the word fast modifies and comes before a noun, train, and is, therefore, an attributive adjective. However, in the sentence, «The sprinter took the bend fast,» the word fast modifies the verb took and is, therefore, an adverb.

Interestingly, -ly is not the only suffix that can be added to the end of a word to change its meaning or be used by both adjectives and adverbs. Additionally, -er and -est can combine with adverbs in a much more limited way wherein the comparative form of an adverb is likely to add more or most to the beginning of the adverb phrase rather than adding an -er or -est.

It’s important to refer to context clues when hints like the addition of an -ly or the word most to accompany a word doesn’t tell you whether it is an adjective or adverb. Look to the word that is being emphasized. If the word being emphasized is a noun, you have an adjective; if the word being emphasized is a verb, you have an adverb.

What is an Adverb?

An adverb is a word that is used to change, modify or qualify several types of words including an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase, with the exception of determiners and adjectives, that directly modify nouns. A good way to understand adverbs is to think about them as the words that provide context. Specifically, adverbs provide a description of how, where, when, in what manner and to what extent something is done or happens. Normally, we can spot an adverb by the fact that it often ends in –ly, but there are lots of adverbs that don’t end in this way. Moreover, adverbs can be used in many combinations with each other.

Traditionally considered a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, making it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. However, spotting an adverb, especially one that ends in -ly is easy. Adverbs normally help paint a fuller picture by describing how something happens, such as

• When? She always arrives early.
• How? He drives carefully.
• Where? They go everywhere together.
• In what way? She eats slowly.
• To what extent? It is terribly hot.

This function of providing more information about how something is done is called the adverbial function, and it may be accomplished by using adverbial clauses and adverbial phrases as well as by adverbs that stand alone.

There are many rules for using adverbs, and these rules often depend upon which type of adverb you are using. Remember these basics and using adverbs to make sentences more meaningful will be easier for you.

• Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two sentences is much more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:
  • The dog ran. (You can picture a dog running, but you don’t really know much more about the scene.)
  • The dog ran excitedly. (You can picture a dog running, wagging its tail, panting happily, and looking glad to see its owner. You can paint a much more interesting picture in your head when you know how or why the dog is running.)
• Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to adjectives. This makes it very easy to identify adverbs in sentences. There are many exceptions to this rule; everywhere, nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples.
• An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys. For example:
  • My math teacher is incredibly patient.
  • This movie is more interesting than the first one.

As you read the following adverb examples, you’ll notice how these useful words modify other words and phrases by providing information about the place, time, manner, certainty, frequency, or other circumstances of activity denoted by the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences.

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs of Manner

An adverb of manner will explain how an action is carried out. Very often adverbs of manner are adjectives with -ly added to the end, but this is certainly not always the case. In fact, some adverbs of manner will have the same spelling as the adjective form.
Some examples of adverbs of manner include:

1. Slowly
2. Rapidly
3. Clumsily
4. Badly
5. Diligently
6. Sweetly
7. Warmly
8. Sadly

Adverb of manner examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• She passed the exam easily.
• They walk quickly to catch the train.
• The dinner party went badly.
• John answered the question correctly.

Notice how the adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjectives bad, correct and quick, although there is a slight spelling change when forming an adverb with the adjective easy.

As mentioned, some adverbs of manner take the same spelling as the adjective and never add an -ly to the end:

• The boys had worked hard.
• The car drives
• Julia dances well.

Adverbs of place

An adverb of place, sometimes called spatial adverbs, will help explain where an action happens. Adverbs of place will be associated with the action of the verb in a sentence, providing context for direction, distance and position: southeast, everywhere, up, left, close by, back, inside, around. These terms don’t usually end in -ly.

Adverbs of place examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Directions

• New York is located north of Philadelphia.
• They traveled down the mountainside.
• First, I looked here, and then I looked there, but I can’t find them anywhere.

Notice that here and there are often used at the beginning of a sentence to express emphasis or in exclamation.

• Here comes the sun.
• There is love in the air.
• Here you are!

Many times, adverbs of place can be used as prepositions as well. The difference is, when the phrase is used as an adverb, it is modifying a verb; when it is used as a preposition, it is always followed by a noun.

• New York is located north of Philadelphia -> New York is on the map.
• They travelled down river -> They travelled in the first compartment.
• That puppy was walking around by itself-> We put a collar around its neck.

Distance

• There was a deli
• Jane is moving far away.
• Carly is sitting close to me.

Position

• The treasure lies underneath the box.
• The cat is sleeping on the bed.
• Why are you standing in the middle of the dancefloor?

In addition, some adverbs of position will refer to a direction of movement. These often end in -ward or -wards.

• Oscar travelled onward to Los Angeles.
• Hannah looked upwards to the heavens.
• Molly, move forward to the front of the queue, please.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency are used to express time or how often something occurs. Adverbs of frequency can be split two main groups. The first, adverbs of indefinite frequency, are terms that have an unclear meaning as to how long are how often something occurs: usually, always, normally. These adverbs will usually be placed after the main verb or between the auxiliary verb and infinitive.

Adverbs of frequency examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• The adverb is usually placed before the main verb.
• I can normally make the shot.
• I will always love

Adverbs of definite frequency will usually be placed at the end of the sentence.

• We get paid hourly.
• I come here
• The situation seems to change monthly.
• The newspaper is bought daily.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time, while seemingly similar to adverbs of frequency, tell us when something happens. Adverbs of time are usually placed at the end of a sentence.

Adverbs of time examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• I will see you
• Harvey forgot his lunch yesterday and again today.
• I have to go now.
• We first met Julie last year.

While it’s almost always correct to have the adverb of time at the end of the sentence, you can place it at the start of the sentence to put a different emphasis on the time if it is important to the context.

• Last year was the worst year of my life.
• Tomorrow our fate will be sealed.
• Yesterday my troubles seemed so far away.

Adverbs of Purpose

Adverbs of purpose, sometimes called adverbs of reason, help to describe why something happened. They can come in the form of individual words – so, since, thus, because – but also clauses – so that, in order to. Notice in the examples that the adverbs of purpose are used to connect sentences that wouldn’t make sense if they were formed alone.

Adverbs of purpose examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• I was sick, thus didn’t go to work today.
• I started jogging so that I wouldn’t be late.
• Because I was late, I jogged a little faster.
• Since it’s your birthday, I will buy you a gift.

Positions of Adverbs

The positions of adverbs are not a fixed or set thing. As you have seen, adverbs can appear in different position in a sentence. However, there are some rules that help us decide where an adverb should be positioned. The rules will be different depending on whether the adverb is acting to modify an adjective or another adverb, a verb or what type of adverb it is.

Positional adverb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Adverb position with adjectives and other adverbs

These adverbs will usually be placed before the adjective or adverb being modified:

• We gave them a really tough match. The adverb really modifies the adjective tough.
• It was quite windy that night. The adverb quite modifies the adjective windy.
• We don’t go to the movies terribly often. The adverb terribly modifies the adverb often.

Adverb position with verbs

This can be a bit trickier because, it will depend on the type of adverb – place, position, time etc. – and there are many exceptions to the rules. However, a basic set of guidelines is shown below:

Adverbs of manner or place are usually positioned at the end of the sentence:

• She laughed timidly.
• I stroked the cat gently.
• Janine lived here.
• There is money everywhere.

As mentioned, if the adverb is of definite time it will be placed at the end of the sentence.

• I did it yesterday.
• We can discuss it tomorrow.
• Let’s go to Paris next week.

However, if it is an indefinite period of time, it will go between the subject and main verb.

• We often go to Paris in the springtime.
• Debbie regularly swims here.
• Bobby and Audrey always loved fishing by the lake.

Order of Adverbs

Adverb order is so important it has clear rules. It’s already mentioned that some adverbs will act to modify another, but how do you decide the structure of a sentence with several adverbs? Thankfully, there is a simple set of rules to follow, called the order of adverbs. Handily, the order of adverbs, sometimes also called the royal order of adverbs, can help us determine sentence structure too. In short, the adverbs get preference (are placed first) in the following order:

1. Adverbs of manner.
2. Adverbs of place.
3. Adverbs of frequency.
4. Adverbs of time.
5. Adverbs of purpose.

Consider this sentence:

I run (verb) quickly (manner) down the road (place) every morning (frequency) before school (time) because (purpose) I might miss the bus.

While it is good to remember the order of adverbs, there is always flexibility with language, and we have already mentioned that adverbs of time and frequency can be placed at the start of a sentence to change the emphasis. So, bottom line: think of the order of adverbs as more of a guideline than a rule that can’t be broken.

Examples of Adverbs

As you read each of the following adverb examples, note that the adverbs have been italicized for easy identification. Consider how replacing the existing adverbs with different ones would change the meaning of each sentence.

1. She was walking rapidly.
2. The kids love playing together in the sandbox.
3. Please come inside now.
4. His jokes are always very
5. You don’t really care, do you?

Adverbs Exercises

The following exercises will help you gain greater understanding about how adverbs work. Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

1. The driver stopped the bus _______________.
   A. Financially
   B. Exactly
   C. Abruptly
   D. Now

Answer: C. The driver stopped the bus abruptly.

1. During autumn, colorful leaves can be seen falling ______________ from trees.
   A. Everywhere
   B. Very
   C. Gently
   D. Loudly

Answer: C. During autumn, colorful leaves can be seen falling gently from trees.

1. My grandmother always smiled _______________.
   A. Cheerfully
   B. Sadly
   C. Never
   D. Yesterday

Answer: A. My grandmother always smiled cheerfully.

1. After the party, confetti was strewn _________________.
   A. Blandly
   B. Everywhere
   C. Later
   D. Carefully

Answer: B. After the party, confetti was strewn everywhere.

1. It’s time to go ____________.
   A. Before
   B. Now
   C. Yesterday
   D. Lightly

Answer: B. It’s time to go now.

Adverbs List

There are many different words that function as adverbs. The following list is broken down into segments which list adverbs by function. After reading, you will be able to think of additional adverbs to add to your own list – after all, there are thousands.

Many adverbs end in “-ly”. This makes it very easy to spot the adverbs in most sentences.

Abruptly

Boldly

Carefully

Deliberately

Excitedly

Financially

Horribly

Mildly

Naughtily

Openly

Poorly

Quickly

Sadly

Terribly

Willingly

Yearly

Some adverbs tell us where the action happened. These are known as adverbs of place.

Everywhere

Here

Inside

There

Underground

Upstairs

Certain adverbs let us know when or how often the action happened. These are known as adverbs of time and adverbs of frequency.

After

Always

Before

Later

Now

Today

Yesterday

Many adverbs tell us the extent of the action.

Almost

Enough

So

Too

Quite

Rather

Very

Some adverbs are used as intensifiers.

Absolutely

Certain

Completely

Heartily

Really

Certain adverbs called adverbs of manner tell us about the way in which something was done.

Briskly

Cheerfully

Expectantly

Randomly

Willingly

Some groups of words serve the same functions as adverbs. These are known as adverb clauses. Be sure to read the adverb clause section to learn new ways to make your sentences even more interesting.