1.
Adverbs
Definition of Adverbs
- Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective and and adverb is a word, often an
expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause,
preposition, or sentence.
Types of Adverbs
- Some adverbs exhibit three forms: the base form, the comparative form (ending in -er), and
the superlative form (ending in -est):
E.g. Base form Comparative form Superlative form
John drives fast. Amy drives faster. Paul drives fastest.
- The adverbs badly and well are irregular in these forms:
E.g. Base form Comparative form Superlative form
John played badly. Amy played worse. Paul played worst.
* The base form can take a wide range of degree adverbs (very hard, extremely hard, fairly hard,
too hard), but these are not used with the comparative form (* very harder). Instead, the
comparative form usually takes much (much harder), or in informal use, one of the following
multi-word degree adverbs:
E.g. a bit
You will have to work a lot harder.
a good deal
* The superlative form hardest does not take a degree adverb because it already denotes the
highest possible point on the scale.
Function:
a. Time adverbs indicate when something happened, as well as frequency of occurrence:
E.g : We visited the museum today.
-Other time adverbs include always, immediately, lately, never, now, often, presently,
previously, etc..
- early and late can be both adverbs and adjectives:
* E.g: I get up early/late. Vs I'm having an early/late lunch.
b. Place adverbs indicate a place or a direction:
E.g: Stand here .
She just turned and walked away .
- Other place adverbs include backwards, down, downwards, in, inside, out, up. etc.
c. Manner adverbs indicate how something happens:
E.g: The child was playing happily in the garden.
Amy works hard all day.
- Other manner adverbs include carefully, clearly, dangerously, heavily, quickly, etc.
- Adverbs with the -ly ending often express manner, as in these examples.
- Note, however, that many adjectives also end in -y: beastly, chilly, timely, etc.
d. Stance adverbs express the speaker's attitude towards what is happening:
E.g. Obviously, she doesn't care.
Among stance adverbs, the modal adverbs express the speaker's degree of certainty about what
is being said:
E.g. We should probably wait a bit longer.
He is definitely not coming.
• Other stance adverbs include curiously, funnily (enough), honestly, hopefully, ironically,
luckily, oddly (enough), predictably, regrettably, sadly, surprisingly, unfortunately, wisely .
e. Degree adverbs they are used to express the degree to which the adjective or adverb applies.
The most common degree adverb is very :
E.g.
very cold very suddenly
* Other degree adverbs include almost, completely, fairly, highly, quite, slightly, totally, utterly,
etc.
* Degree adverbs may be subdivided into boosters, which express a higher degree, and
downtoners, which express a lower degree. The most general booster is more, and the most
general downtoner is less. The adverb as is used to denote an equal degree:
• Booster: Trump is more popular than Obama.
• Equal degree: Trump is as popular as Obama.
• Downtoner: Trump is less popular than Obama.
* Other degree adverbs can be used to denote various positions on a sliding scale of intensity.
BOOSTERS Incredibly
Extremely
Remarkably
Very
Quiet
Rather
COLD
Downtoners Slightly
Sort of
A bit
With the comparative form of the adjective (colder), we use the degree adverb
much (much colder). This applies also to comparative adverbs (much sooner).
In informal use, and especially in speech, the words pretty and that are often
used as degree adverbs: E.g. The weather is pretty bad.
Signal adverbs:
-ly Ending: Many adverbs, especially of manner, end in -ly (e.g., quickly, softly, happily).
Answers Key Questions:
How? (manner): slowly, well
When? (time): yesterday, soon
Where? (place): here, everywhere
How Often? (frequency): always, rarely
To What Extent? (degree): very, quite
Position: Adverbs often come before adjectives, other adverbs, or verbs. For example:
She is very happy. (before adjective)
He always arrives early. (before verb)
2. Preposition
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other
words in a sentence. It often tells us about location, time, direction, or manner.
Types of Prepositions
The major meanings of these phrases can be summarised as follows (the
prepositional phrases are bracketed):
[Link] (location/direction/relative position):
Shows where or in what direction something is.
E. g. We are travelling [to London]
b. Time/duration:
Indicates when something happens or how long it lasts.
E.g. We're leaving [at 2pm].
c. Cause/purpose:
Explains why something happens or its purpose.
E.g. He does it (for his children.)
d. Accompaniment:
Shows something or someone that goes along with the subject.
E.g. She won't go anywhere [without her mobile phone].
e. Concession:
Indicates something happening despite certain conditions.
E.g. [Despite the rain], we had a good time.
f. Prepositions can also be followed by a clause in which the verb
has the -ing form.
The combination of the two forms a prepositional phrase
E.g. [After eating breakfast], we go to school.
* Multi-word prepositions are two- and three-word combinations which act as
a unit:
Examples:
According to the plan, everything is on track.
- Like one-word prepositions, multi-word prepositions are also followed by
either a noun phrase or a clause:
E.g. [Because of the weather], the show has been cancelled.
- Function of Prepositions
Signals or Cues of Prepositions
1. Indicating Location: Shows where something is.
Example: The book is on the table.
"On" shows the relationship between "book" and "table" (location).
2. Indicating Time: Specifies when something happens.
Example: She arrived at 5 PM.
"At" links "arrived" to the specific time "5 PM."
3. Indicating Direction: Shows movement toward something.
Example: He walked to the park.
"To" indicates direction toward "the park."
4. Indicating Method or Means: Shows how something is done.
Example: She traveled by train.
"By" shows the method of travel.
5. Indicating Possession or Origin: Shows ownership or source.
Example: The gift is from my friend.
"From" indicates the origin of "the gift."
Signals of preposition
[Link]:
o in, on, at, under, above, next to
o Example: The cat is under the table.
2. Time:
o at, on, in, before, after, during
o Example: We meet at 6 PM.
3. Direction:
o to, into, onto, toward, across
o Example: She is going to the store.
4. Method/Means:
o by, with
o Example: He traveled by car.
5. Cause/Reason:
o because of, due to, for
o Example: The flight was canceled because of the storm.
