A Read the following conversation and notice the underlined words:
Habib: Where are you going, Jamil?
Jamil: I am going home.
Habib: The sky is cloudy. It is going to rain soon. Don't walk slowly.
Jamil: Yes, Habib. I should walk fast.
Habib: I heard you would go to Dhaka. When are you going?
Jamil: I am going tomorrow at 10:30 am.
Notice that the underlined words and expressions indicate time, place and manner of the action of the verbs. These words are known as adverbs.
Read the conversation again and fill in the following gaps to understand the functions of adverbs:
- An adverb modifies a_____
- It tells us w___ w___ and h- an action takes place.
B. Read the following short conversations, notice the words in bold and say what they refer to (a) time, (b) place and (3) manner.
- When did you call him?
: I called him yesterday. - Where are you going?
: I am going upstairs. - How is the train running?
: It is running fast. - He is back home.
- He will come back at 0:30 p.m.
Tick the right option against each adverb below.
yesterday place/time/manner
upstairs place/time/manner
fast place/time/manner
home place/time/manner
at 10:30 p.m. place/time/manner
The adverbs that refer to time are known as adverbs of time; the ones that refer to place are known as adverbs of place, and those referring to manner of the action of the verb are known as adverbs of manner
Which of the above is what type of adverb?
yesterday: adverb of _____
upstairs: adverb of_____
fast: adverb of _____
home adverb of ______
at 10:30 p.m.: adverb of ______
C Notice the position of adverbs in the following sentences:
It often rains here.
She never reads loudly.
He always speaks the truth.
It hardly rains here.
He runs fast.
It rains hard here
Now fill in the gaps in the following sentences to show the position of the adverb in a sentence.
often is used _______ a verb.
never is used _______ a verb.
always is used _______ a verb.
hardly is used _______ a verb.
fast is used _______ a verb.
hard is used ______ a verb.
Note: Adverbs are usually used after the verbs they modify. But some adverbs are used between the subject and the verb. These adverbs are called adverbs of frequency.
D Now look at the following conversation and see the function of the adverbs in bold.
The girl is fairly clever.
You are quite right. But unfortunately she has done very badly in the exam. Here adverbs 'fairly', and 'quite' are used to modify adjectives 'clever', and 'right' but adverb 'very' modify an adverb 'badly'.
Note: An adverb may also modify an adjective or another adverb E Read the following passage and notice the underlined words:
Mr. Rahman is happy for three reasons. Firstly, he has got a good job. Secondly, he has recovered from his illness. And thirdly, he has recently become a father.
These are also examples of adverbs. Their function is to link the sentences in the passage. They are used as linking words or linkers. Here they indicate a sequence.
You will learn more about linkers in the lesson on conjunctions.
F Now fill in the blanks in the following passage with appropriate adverbs:
Mr. Azad is a ____ busy man. He ____ lives in Rajshahi. He ____ goes to Dhaka and lives _____ in his flat. He also goes _____ quite ____ He goes _____ for business purposes. He leads an _____ busy life.
