Position of adverbs

Position of adverbs

Adverbs of manner which answer the question ‘how?’ normally comes immediately after the verb or after the object if there is one.

• It is raining heavily.
• She combed her hair gently. (NOT She combed gently her hair.)
• She speaks English well. (NOT She speaks well English.)
• He walked slowly.

Adverbs of place (e.g. here, there, everywhere, nowhere, on the roof etc.) and adverbs of time (now, then, today, tomorrow, next week etc.) are usually placed after the verb or after the object if there is one.

• I saw him yesterday.
• I looked everywhere but couldn’t find anything.
• Hang the picture there.
• They are coming next week.

When two or more adverbs modify the same verb, they usually come in the following order: adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time.

• We will go there tomorrow evening.
• He performed well at the concert last night.

Adverbs of frequency which answer the question ‘how often’ (e.g. always, often, rarely, frequently etc.) and some other adverbs likehardly, almost, nearly, just, quite etc., are normally put between the subject and the verb if the verb consists of only one word. If there is more than one word in the verb, the adverb comes after the first word.

• You never visit us.
• I have always wanted to be a writer.
• I have often told him to mend his ways.
• We usually have breakfast at night.

If the verb is a form of be (is/am/are/was/were) these adverbs are placed after the verb.

• I am never late for office.
• We are just off.

Adverbs are usually placed before the auxiliaries have to and used to.

• He always used to agree with me.
• I often have to wake up early in the morning.

An adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb normally comes before the word it modifies.

• She was quite tired.
• He is a rather lazy boy.

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Adverbs Part II

Adverbs Part II

Adverbs of degree or quantity

Adverbs of degree answer the question ‘how much’ or ‘in what degree’ or ‘to
what extent’. Examples are: very, too, fully, quite, rather, enough, any, partly, almost, utterly, as, entirely etc.

• That was very tragic.
• I have almost finished.
• He was rather busy.
• Is he any good?
• You are partly right.
• You are entirely wrong.

Adverbs of reason

Adverbs of reason answer the question ‘why?’. Examples are:therefore, hence, consequently etc.

• Consequently he refused to go.
• Therefore they decided to boycott the meeting.
• He is hence unable to refute the charge.

Adverbs of affirmation or negation

Examples are: surely, certainly, not, probably, indeed etc.

• You are certainly right.
• I am not going.
• He is a fool indeed.

Interrogative adverbs

Adverbs which are used for asking questions are calledinterrogative adverbs.  Examples are: when, where, how, why etc.

• When will you go to New York? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• How long will you stay here? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• Where are my keys? (Interrogative adverb of place)
• How often does the committee meet? (Interrogative adverb of number)
• How did he behave? (Interrogative adverb of manner)
• How far did he go? (Interrogative adverb of quantity)
• Why did you resign? (Interrogative adverb of reason)

Relative adverbs

Read the following sentences:

Do you know the place where the meeting will be held?

In this sentence, where is an adverb as it modifies the verb will be held. Where is also a relative as it connects the two clauses of the sentence and at the same time refers back to its antecedent, place.Where is therefore called a relative adverb. Note that a relative adverb connects an adjective clause to the main clause.

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Adverbs of degree or quantity

Adverbs of degree answer the question ‘how much’ or ‘in what degree’ or ‘to
what extent’. Examples are: very, too, fully, quite, rather, enough, any, partly, almost, utterly, as, entirely etc.

• That was very tragic.
• I have almost finished.
• He was rather busy.
• Is he any good?
• You are partly right.
• You are entirely wrong.

Adverbs of reason

Adverbs of reason answer the question ‘why?’. Examples are:therefore, hence, consequently etc.

• Consequently he refused to go.
• Therefore they decided to boycott the meeting.
• He is hence unable to refute the charge.

Adverbs of affirmation or negation

Examples are: surely, certainly, not, probably, indeed etc.

• You are certainly right.
• I am not going.
• He is a fool indeed.

Interrogative adverbs

Adverbs which are used for asking questions are calledinterrogative adverbs.  Examples are: when, where, how, why etc.

• When will you go to New York? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• How long will you stay here? (Interrogative adverb of time)
• Where are my keys? (Interrogative adverb of place)
• How often does the committee meet? (Interrogative adverb of number)
• How did he behave? (Interrogative adverb of manner)
• How far did he go? (Interrogative adverb of quantity)
• Why did you resign? (Interrogative adverb of reason)

Relative adverbs

Read the following sentences:

Do you know the place where the meeting will be held?

In this sentence, where is an adverb as it modifies the verb will be held. Where is also a relative as it connects the two clauses of the sentence and at the same time refers back to its antecedent, place.Where is therefore called a relative adverb. Note that a relative adverb connects an adjective clause to the main clause.

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What are adverbs?

What are adverbs?

Adverbs are words like now, then, today, tomorrow and carefully. An adverb modifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Read the following sentences:

Alice smiled sweetly.
Those mangoes were very sweet.
He spoke quite loudly.

In sentence 1, the adverb quickly shows how (or in what manner) Alice smiled. It modifies the verb smiled.

In sentence 2, the adverb very says something about the sweetness of the mangoes. It modifies the adjective sweet.

In sentence 3, quite says something about the manner in which he spoke. It modifies the adverb loudly.
Note that adverbs standing at the beginning of sentences sometimes modify the whole sentence, rather than a particular word.

• Unfortunately no one was present there. (= It was unfortunate that no one was present there.)
• Probably I am mistaken. (= It is probable that I am mistaken.)

Kinds of adverbs
There are very many kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’. Examples are: today, yesterday, now, before, daily, already, since, ago, never etc.

• I met him yesterday.
• His father died two years ago.
• I have seen him before.
• They have already come.
• We will have to start now.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency answer the question ‘how often’. Examples are: often, always, once, never, again, seldom, frequently etc.

• We seldom go out on Sundays.
• I have seen him only once.
• He called again this morning.
• We must always try to do our best.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place answer the question ‘where’. Examples are: here, there, up, down, everywhere, out, in etc.

• She sat down.
• He looked up.
• I searched for him everywhere.
• Come in.

Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner answer the question ‘how’ or ‘in what manner’. Note that this class includes nearly all those adverbs ending in -ly. Examples are:
quickly, carefully, sweetly, clearly, bravely, beautifully, well, fast etc.

• The soldiers fought bravely.
• This essay is well written.
• she walked slowly.
• The baby slept soundly.

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What are adjectives?

What are adjectives?

An adjective is a word like kind, happy, smart and intelligent. An adjective typically modifies a noun and denotes a temporary or permanent quality associated with that noun. For example, a smart boy is a boy who is distinguished from other boys by being smart.

Not all adjectives are used to denote a quality associated with a noun. For example, the adjective mere in ‘a mere child’ does not denote a quality of the child.

Kinds of adjectives

Adjectives may be divided into the following classes:

Adjectives of quality

Adjectives of quality refer to the kind or quality of a person or thing. They answer the question: ‘of what kind?’

• Tokyo is a large city. (Here the adjective large shows a certain quality associated with the city Tokyo.)
• Alice is a brilliant student. (Here the adjective brilliant shows a quality associated with the noun Alice.)

Note that adjectives formed from proper nouns are generally considered as adjectives of quality. Examples are: Persian carpets, French wines etc.

Adjectives of quantity

Adjectives of quantity answer the question ‘how much?’. Examples are: some, any, much, little, enough, all, no, half, whole etc.

• We need some rice.
• You have little patience.
• He has lost all his wealth.
• He did not eat any rice.

Adjectives of number

Adjectives of number answer the question ‘how many’. Examples are: many, one, two, first, tenth, all etc.

• Each hand has five fingers.
• Sunday is the first day of the week.
• All men must die.
• There are several mistakes in your essay.

Demonstrative adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives answer the question ‘which?’. Examples are: this, that, these, those and such.

• That boy is industrious.
• This bag is made of expensive leather.
• Those mangoes were very sweet.
• I hate such people.

Note that this and that are used with singular nouns. These andthose are used with plural nouns.

Interrogative adjectives

When they are used with nouns to ask questions, the questions words what, which and whose are called interrogative adjectives.

• Whose bag is this?
• Which way shall we go?

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Adjectives used without nouns

Adjectives used without nouns

Adjectives are often used without nouns.

To refer to some well-known groups of people

The structure the + adjective is used to talk about some well-known groups of people. Examples are: the blind, the deaf, the unemployed, the rich, the poor, the young, the old, the dead etc.

• He is collecting money for the blind. (= He is collecting money for blind people.)
  
• Blessed are the meek.
• The government should do something for the poor.

Note that these expressions are always plural. The blind means all blind people. Similarly, the dead means all dead people. Adjectives are not normally used in this way without the.

Blessed are the meek. (NOT Blessed are meek.)

These expressions cannot be used with a possessive ‘s.

The problems of the blind should be properly addressed. OR Blind people’s problems should be properly addressed. (NOT The blind’s problems should be properly addressed.)

In a few fixed phrases, the + adjective can have a singular meaning. Examples include: the accused, the former, the latter, the deceased etc.

• The accused was released on bail.

Note that plural meanings are also possible.

Abstract ideas

An adjective can be used after the to refer to some abstract quality or idea.

She doesn’t believe in the supernatural.

The future (= futurity) is unknown to us.

Adjectives of nationality

Some adjectives of nationality ending in -sh or -ch can be used afterthe without nouns. These adjectives include Irish, Welsh, English, British, Spanish, French etc.

The Irish are proud of their sense of humor.

Note that the expressions the Irish, the English etc., are plural.The singular equivalents are for example an Irishman or an Englishwoman.

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Degrees of Comparison

Degrees of Comparison

Read the following sentences:

1. John is tall.
2. Peter is taller than John.
3. Harry is the tallest of the three.

In sentence 1, the adjective tall merely says something about John’s height. It doesn’t state how tall John is. In sentence 2, the adjective taller is used to compare John’s height with Peter’s height.

In sentence 3, the adjective tallest is used to compare Harry’s height with the height of John and Peter.

We have thus seen that adjectives change in form to show comparison. These different forms of the adjective are called thedegrees of comparison.

In the examples given above, the adjective tall is said to be in thepositive degree. The adjective taller is said to be in thecomparative degree and the adjective tallest is said to be in thesuperlative degree.

The positive degree of an adjective is the adjective in its simple form. It is used to denote the mere existence of some quality. Adjectives in the positive degree are used when no comparison is made.

The comparative degree of an adjective shows a higher degree of the quality than that is present in the positive degree. It is used when two things or two sets of things are compared.

• Peter is smarter than John.
• Which of the two sisters is the prettier?
• Apples are dearer than oranges.

The superlative degree of an adjective denotes the highest degree of the quality. It is used when more than two things or sets of things are compared.

• Peter is the smartest boy in the class.
• Iron is the most useful of all metals.
• Alice is the prettiest girl in the neighborhood.

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Adjective Phrases

Adjective Phrases

Sometimes a group of words does the work of an adjective.

Study the following examples.

• The mayor was a wealthy man.
• The mayor was a man of great wealth.

In sentence 1, the adjective wealthy says what sort of man the mayor was. In sentence 2, the group of words ‘of great wealth’ also says the same thing. It qualifies the noun man as an adjective does. It therefore does the work of an adjective and is called an adjective phrase.

Definition

An adjective phrase is a group of words that does the work of an adjective.

• The magistrate was a kind man. (Here the adjective kind modifies the noun man.)
• The magistrate was a man with a kind heart. (Here the adjective phrase ‘with a kind heart’ modifies the noun man.)
• They lived in a stone house.
• They lived in a house built of stone.
• The workers belonged to a hill tribe.
• The workers belonged to a tribe dwelling in the hills.

Study the following adjectives and the adjective phrases that are equivalent to them.

• A golden necklace – a necklace made of gold
• A white coat – a coat of white color
• A jungle track – a track through the jungle
• A deserted city – a city with no inhabitants
• The French flag – the flag of France
• A wooden hut – a hut built of wood
• A blank page – a page with no writing on it

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Adjective Phrases

Adjective Phrases

Sometimes a group of words does the work of an adjective.

Study the following examples.

• The mayor was a wealthy man.
• The mayor was a man of great wealth.

In sentence 1, the adjective wealthy says what sort of man the mayor was. In sentence 2, the group of words ‘of great wealth’ also says the same thing. It qualifies the noun man as an adjective does. It therefore does the work of an adjective and is called an adjective phrase.

Definition

An adjective phrase is a group of words that does the work of an adjective.

• The magistrate was a kind man. (Here the adjective kind modifies the noun man.)
• The magistrate was a man with a kind heart. (Here the adjective phrase ‘with a kind heart’ modifies the noun man.)
• They lived in a stone house.
• They lived in a house built of stone.
• The workers belonged to a hill tribe.
• The workers belonged to a tribe dwelling in the hills.

Study the following adjectives and the adjective phrases that are equivalent to them.

• A golden necklace – a necklace made of gold
• A white coat – a coat of white color
• A jungle track – a track through the jungle
• A deserted city – a city with no inhabitants
• The French flag – the flag of France
• A wooden hut – a hut built of wood
• A blank page – a page with no writing on it

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Distributives

Distributives

Each, every, either and neither are distributive adjectives. These are normally used with singular nouns.

Position
Distributives are placed immediately before the nouns they qualify.

• Each boy wore a hat.
• Neither answer is correct.
• Every child needs love.

Note
Each, either and neither can be used with plural nouns when they are followed by ‘of’

• Each of the boys wore a hat.
• Neither of the answers is correct.

Each

Each is used when we are talking about the members of a group as individuals.

• Each boy was given a watch.
• Each of the boys was given a watch.

Each and every
Each is preferred when we are thinking of people or things separately, one at a time. Every is similar to all. Every is preferred when we are thinking of people or things together.

• Each patient went to see the doctor. (In turn)
• He gave every patient the same medicine.

Either and Neither

Either and neither are used to talk about distribution between two things.
Either is used in affirmative clauses. Neither is used in negative clauses.

• Which shirt do you want? Either shirt will do.
• I will take either shirt, they are both good.
• Neither answer is correct.
• Neither of them came.

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Attributive adjectives after nouns

Attributive adjectives after nouns

Most adjectives can go in two main places in a sentence: in attributive position and predicative position.

In attributive position, an adjective comes before the noun it modifies.

• She is a nice girl.
• She married a rich businessman.

In predicative position, an adjective goes after the verb.

• She is nice.
• He looked upset.

While attributive adjectives usually go before the nouns, a few can be used after nouns. This, for example, happens in some fixed phrases.

• Secretary General
• Poet Laureate
• Attorney General
• Court martial

Some adjectives ending in -able/-ible can also be used after nouns.

• It is the only solution possible.
• Book all the tickets available.

After something, everything etc.

Adjectives come after words like something, everything, anything, nothing, somebody, anywhere etc.

• I would like to go somewhere quiet. (NOT I would like to go quiet somewhere.)
• I heard something interesting today. (NOT I heard interesting something today.)

In most expressions of measurement adjectives come after the measurement noun.

• ten years older (NOT Older ten years) (NOT ten older years)
• six feet deep
• two miles long

Verb + object + adjective

Adjectives can be placed after the object.

• You make me happy.
• Can you get the children ready for school?

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Correct use of some adjectives

Correct use of some adjectives

The adjective can be correctly used with a verb when some quality of the subject, rather the action of the verb, is to be expressed.

• These flowers smell sweet. (NOT These flowers smell sweetly.)
• It tastes sour. (NOT It tastes sourly.)

The plural forms these and those are often used with the singular nouns kind and sort.

Examples are: these kind of things

However, some grammarians insist that we should say: this kind of things

The words superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior, anterior, and posterior take to instead of than.

• He is senior to me.
• James is inferior to Peter’s intelligence.

In comparing two things or classes of things the comparative should be used.

• Take the shorter of the two routes. (NOT Take the shortest of the two routes.)
• Of the two suggestions, the former is better. (NOT Of the two suggestions, the former is the best.)

This rule, however, is not strictly observed. In informal English, the superlative is often used when we talk about one of only two items.

When a comparison is made by means of a comparative, the thing that is compared must be excluded from the things with which it is compared.

• Hercules was stronger than any other man. (NOT Hercules was stronger than any man – this sentence would suggest that Hercules was stronger than Hercules himself, which, of course, is absurd.)

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