Adverbs/Adverbials
Adverb is the name of a word class; adverbial is the name of a clause element (‘setningsledd’). A modifier is part of a clause element.
An adverbial
- may describe the action expressed in the verb.
He speaks French fluently.
She was warmly allowed into the house. - may give the speaker’s view on a situation.
Luckily, all the students passed their exams.
This is obviously not enough. - may refer to the connection between sentences in a text.
Furthermore, the team had played an excellent away game.
Nothing, however, will convince me to change my mind.
A modifier
- may give the degree of an adjective head.
The house was extremely nice.
The captain was badly shaken. - may give the degree of an adverb head.
She speaks Norwegian very well.
Quite soon, a crowd had gathered outside.
Adverbs often end in –ly and are then formed from an adjective:
perfect - perfectly, nice - nicely, probable - probably
Many adverbs have no ending:
often, seldom, never, always
If an adjective ends in –y, the –y turns into an –i when the adjective forms an adverb.
easy - easily, lucky - luckily
Adverbs consisting of one syllable have the ending –er in the comparative and –est in the superlative.
POSITIVE | COMPARATIVE | SUPERLATIVE |
|---|---|---|
fast | faster | fastest |
hard | harder | hardest |
Adverbs consisting of more than one syllable are compared by using more in the comparative and most in the superlative.
POSITIVE | COMPARATIVE | SUPERLATIVE |
|---|---|---|
nicely | more nicely | most nicely |
quietly | more quietly | most quietly |
POSITIVE | COMPARATIVE | SUPERLATIVE |
|---|---|---|
well | better | best |
far | farther | farthest |
far | further | furthest |
badly | worse | worst |
little | less | least |
much | more | most |