Adverbs and adverbials add information about how, when, where, or to what extent something has happened. Adverbs are single words whereas adverbials can be word groups, prepositional phrases, or even clauses.
Adverbs and adverbials generally modify the meaning of:
- a verb
I greatly admire your courage.
They changed hurriedly into their pyjamas.
Monica hummed softly as she washed the car.
The firework exploded with a loud bang.
He ran across the lawn towards the house.
- an adjective
Harry is absolutely terrified of flying.
You must admit that he can be rather boring.
That is quite silly.
Fears like that are very real to the sufferer.
- another adverb
I thought about it quite seriously.
The children are behaving remarkably well.
Ali objected very strongly to the plan.
- a whole sentence
Frankly, I think he is lying.
Nevertheless, we must give him a chance.
Honestly, I didn’t mean to be rude to you.
- or a prepositional phrase
We are really in a no-win situation.
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