What Is an Adverb? Types and Remarkable Examples of Adverbs

We might have come across the word adverb a few times in the past but never really considered much about what it could mean or how we would come by using it in a sentence. It’s important to know what adverbs are used for and how they will change the meaning of a sentence so we’re going to help you today and talk you through it by explaining what we know about the adverb.

They’re not nearly as confusing as they might first seem, even though their explanation can sound a little up in the air!

Table of Contents

Adverbs

What Is an Adverb?

An adverb is a name given to any word that is used to modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or a whole sentence. It can be an odd concept that an adverb is capable of modifying itself, but once we get on to a few examples we’ll hopefully be able to clear it up a little bit better for you.

Position of Adverbs

The position of the adverb in a sentence depends on a few things that need to be discussed. Most of the positioning comes down to what type of adverb it is, which we’ll discuss at more length in the next section.

Most types of adverbs, including the manner, place, and time types are always determined to be put at the end of a clause. Then some are better kept in the midsection, like the frequency, focusing, and certainty types. Finally, there’s only a couple that gets taken out of the clause and usually put at the very beginning. These are known as the viewpoint and evaluative adverb types.

Types of Adverbs & Examples

Manner

These adverbs generally tell us how something is done. For a better term, they tell us the manner in which something is done. An example is

“You ran quite slowly“.

The adverb is “slowly” at the end of the sentence.

Place

These adverbs tell us the place where something happened. An example is:

“I am eating my food downstairs“

“downstairs” acts as the adverb.

Time

These adverbs let us know when something happened in the sentence. A good example is

“We should meet at the weekend“.

The whole word “weekend” becomes the adverb here.

Frequency

These adverbs tell us how often something occurs within the sentence. An example would be

“I usually go to sleep at nine.”

The adverb is “usually” here, explaining the frequency of the schedule.

Focusing

These adverbs go in the middle of the sentence to emphasize the meaning of the sentence.

“She certainly has the looks.”

The adverb is “certainly” and it stresses the importance of “her looks” in the sentence.

Certainty

These adverbs are also in the middle of the sentence and give us an approximation as to what could happen.

“I’ll probably see you tomorrow” where “probably” is the adverb is a good example.

Viewpoint

These are used to share a view and are put at the start of a sentence.

“Personally, I wouldn’t do that.”

Evaluative

These are used to evaluate the findings through the sentence (usually related to what was previously said).

“Unfortunately, I cannot help you there.”

List of Adverbs

You can see some popular adverbs in the adverbs list below.

Accidentally
Always
Angrily
Anxiously
Awkwardly
Badly
Blindly
Boastfully
Boldly
Bravely
Brightly
Cheerfully
Coyly
Crazily
Defiantly
Deftly
Deliberately
Devotedly
Doubtfully
Dramatically
Dutifully
Eagerly
Elegantly
Enormously
Evenly
Eventually
Exactly
Faithfully
Finally
Foolishly
Fortunately
Frequently
Gleefully
Gracefully
Happily
Hastily
Honestly
Hopelessly
Hourly
Hungrily
Innocently
Inquisitively
Irritably
Jealously
Justly
Kindly
Lazily
Loosely
Madly
Merrily
Mortally
Mysteriously
Nervously
Never
Obediently
Obnoxiously
Occasionally
Often
Only
Perfectly
Politely
Poorly
Powerfully
Promptly
Quickly
Rapidly
Rarely
Regularly
Rudely
Safely
Seldom
Selfishly
Seriously
Shakily
Sharply
Silently
Slowly
Solemnly
Sometimes
Speedily
Sternly
Technically
Tediously
Unexpectedly
Usually
Victoriously
Vivaciously
Warmly
Wearily
Weekly
Wildly
Yearly

Learn more with the full list of adverbs in English.