Unit 3 Vocabulary Adverbs 2

Adverbs: types

from English Grammar Today

Time, place and manner adverbs (early, there, slowly)

Time adverbs

Time adverbs tell us about when something happens.

already	lately	still	tomorrow
early	now	soon	yesterday
finally	recently	today	yet

Have you seen Laurie today?

I’d prefer to leave early.

I went to the cinema on my own recently.

There’s been an increase in house burglary lately.

See also:

• Adverb phrases
• Already, still or yet?

Place adverbs

Place adverbs tell us about where something happens or where something is.

There was somebody standing nearby.

Is that your scarf there?

You go upstairs and do your homework. I’ll come up in a minute.

Manner adverbs

Manner adverbs tell us about the way something happens or is done.

accurately	beautifully	expertly	professionally
anxiously	carefully	greedily	quickly
badly	cautiously	loudly	quietly

Manner adverbs are often formed from adjectives by adding -ly:

She spoke very loudly. We could all hear what she was saying.

We waited anxiously by the phone.

We walked up the stairs very quietly because Mum and Dad were asleep.

Some common manner adverbs have the same form as adjectives and they have similar meanings (e.g. fast, right, wrong, straight, tight).

adjective	adverb
I was never a fast swimmer	Driving fast is dangerous
All of your answers werewrong.	People always spell my name wrong.
Is that the right time?	That builder never does anything right!
My hair is straight.	Let’s go straight to the airport.

Degree adverbs (slightly) and focusing adverbs (generally)

Degree and focusing adverbs are the most common types of modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs. Degree adverbs express degrees of qualities, properties, states, conditions and relations. Focusing adverbs point to something.

Degree adverbs

absolutely	enough	perfectly	somewhat
a (little) bit	entirely	pretty	terribly
a lot	extremely	quite	too
almost	fairly	rather	totally
awfully	highly	remarkably	utterly
completely	lots	slightly	very

Mary will be staying a bit longer. (a bit longer = for a little more time)

It all happened pretty quickly.

She was quite surprised they came, actually.

It was £3.52 if you want to be totally accurate.

Focusing adverbs

especially	just	mainly	particularly
generally	largely	only	simply

I just wanted to ask you what you thought.

I wouldn’t particularly like to move to a modern house.

See also:

• Adverbs

Evaluative adverbs (surprisingly) and viewpoint adverbs (personally)

We put some adverbs outside the clause. They modify the whole sentence or utterance. Evaluative and viewpoint adverbs are good examples of this:

The electric car, surprisingly, does not really offer any advantages over petrol cars. (evaluative)

Personally, I think the show was great. (viewpoint)

Linking adverbs (then, however)

Linking adverbs show a relationship between two clauses or sentences (e.g. a sequence in time, cause and effect, contrast between two things):

I left my house in the morning [sequence]then I went to pick up Leanne at her house.

[cause]We talked until the early hours and [effect]consequently I overslept the next morning. (the result of the late night is that I was late the next morning)

The sun will be shining in France. [contrast]However, heavy rain is expected in Spain.

Warning:

We can use then and consequently to join clauses or sentences. We usually use but not however to connect two clauses in the same sentence:

There was no room for them but they got on the train.

There was no room for them. However, they got on the train.

Unit 3 Vocabulary - Adverbs

ADVERBS OF MANNER

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. They are usually placed either after the main verb or after the object.

EXAMPLES

• He swims well.
• He ran quickly.
• She spoke softly.
• James coughed loudly to attract her attention.
• He plays the flute beautifully. (after the direct object)
• He ate the chocolate cake greedily. (after the direct object)

An adverb of manner cannot be put between a verb and its direct object. The adverb must be placed either before the verb or at the end of the clause.

EXAMPLES

Adverb of degree	Modifying	Example
extremely	adjective	The water was extremely cold.
quite	adjective	The movie is quite interesting.
just	verb	He was just leaving.
almost	verb	She has almost finished.
very	adverb	She is running very fast.
too	adverb	You are walking too slowly.
enough	adverb	You are running fast enough.

Unit 3 Review

  
few
 determiner,adjective
BrE /fjuː/
 
; NAmE /fjuː/
 
(fewer, fewest)
 


1.  used with plural nouns and a plural verb to mean ‘not many’Few people understand the difference.There seem to be fewer tourists around this year.Very few students learn Latin now.
2.  (also a few) used with plural nouns and a plural verb to mean ‘a small number’, ‘some’We've had a few replies.I need a few things from the store.Quite a few people are going to arrive early.I try to visit my parents every few weeks.
3. used with uncountable nouns to mean ‘not much’
4. 
   

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Unit 3 Comparatives and Superlatives

Comparative and superlative adjetives:

Regular adjectives with one syllable

A

Adjective          Comparative     Superlative

Tall                   Taller                the tallest                      Adjectives ending in two vowels or two

Long                 longer               the longest                    consonants and a consonant, add

                                                                                    -er /-est

Great                greater              the greatest

B

Large                Larger               the largest

Nice                  nicer                 the nicest                      Adjectives ending in –e, add –r /-st

C

Big                   Bigger              the biggest

Fat                   fatter                the fattest                     Adjectives ending in consonant+vowel+

Sad                  sadder              the saddest                   consonant, double he consonant and

Wet                  wetter               the wettest                    add –er /-est

Regular adjectives with more than one syllable

A

Adjective          Comparative     Superlative

Heavy               heavier              the heaviest                  Adjectives ending in –y change y to i

Happy              Happier              the Happiest                and add –er /-est

B

Modern             more modern    the modernst                             Most longer adjectives use more

Important          more important    the most important                  and the most

C

Common           more common/        the most common/              some two-syllable adjectives can

                        commoner               commonest                        form their comp. and .by

Eg. Clever, Pleasant, Gentle, Tired, Simple,                                adding  –er/-est or with

Shallow (not very deep, superficial)                                            more and most

Irregular adjectives

Adjective          Comparative                 Superlative

Good                better                            the best

Bad                  worse                           the worst                       *For people in a family:

Old                   *elder/older                   *the eldest/the oldest     Ram is my elder brother

Far                   further/farther                the furthest/the farthest

In Context

A The more/-er + than

I’m taller than my brother                                    me, him, us, them,… if the pronoun after than

My brother´s more serious than me                    is not followed by a verb.

I’m more intelligent than him/ he is                      I, he, we, they,… if the pronoun after than is

                                                                        followed by a verb.

B The most/-est

I´m the tallest student in the class

My sister´s the most intelligent student in the school

C Less + than/ the least

That film was less interesting than the last one I saw

It was the least interesting film I´ve seen all year

Qualifying comparative adjetives

• Cars are considerably faster and far more        To refer to big differences: far, a lot, m

  comfortable than bicycles                                much, considerably, not nearly   as…as,…

•The weather is a bit hotter than it was                To refer to small differences: a bit, yesterday                                                                                                                                                                                         a little, slightly.

• It’s no warmer than it was yesterday                 to refer to no differences: Just, no.

  It´s just as cold today as it was yesterday

Adverbs

1)         Regular and irregular adverbs

                       

Adverb	Comparative	Superlative
Regular adverbs
slowly	more slowly	the most slowly
Irregular adverbs
well	better	the best
badly	worse	the worst
little	less	the least
much	more	the most
Adverbs which are the same as adjetives
fast	faster	the fastest
hard	harder	the hardest
far	farther / further	the farthest / the furthest
long	longer	the longest
loud	louder	the loudest
straight	straighter	the straightest

2)         The + comparative + the

This construction links two actions or situations – when one thing happens, another thing follows.

•           adjective…adjective

The harder a job is, the more rewarding I find it.

•           adverb…adverb

The sooner we start, the quicker we´ll finish.

•           adjective… adverb, or adverb… adjective

The easier a job is, the more quickly I do it.

•           more (+ noun) …. more (+ noun)

The more money Jack earned, the more clothes he bought.

•           less (+ clause) …less (+ uncountable noun) / fewer (+ plural countable noun)

The less Bob earned, the less food / the fewer holidays he could afford.

•           more (+ clause)… less (+ clause)

The more you sleep, the less you do.

Other combinations of these patterns are possible:

The harder Joe worked, the more he earned.

The more he ate, the fatter he got.

NOTES

a)         Neither of the two clauses in the + comparative + the sentences make   sense without the other.

b)         In writing, a comma is used to separate the two clauses.

c)         Both clauses need a verb.

d)         In some expressions with better, no verbs are needed.

Jim: When shall I come round to see you?

Tim: The sooner, the better.

Other comparative constructions

1)         as… as

It can be used with adjectives or adverbs to make comparisons between two things or people.

I’m as tall as my brother.

In negative sentences so can be used instead of the first as.

Cats aren’t so friendly as dogs.

2)         Comparative + and + comparative

It can be used with adjectives or adverbs to refer to a trend.

As the exams approached, I worked harder and harder.

Over the last twenty years, televisions have become less and less expensive.

3)         Extreme adjectives

Ordinary         Extreme

cold                freezing

angrynn         furious

hungry           starving

Most adjectives can be used with very or really and in the comparative form with even for emphasis.

Yesterday I was very cold, but today is even colder.

NOTE: really is more informal than very.

Extreme adjectives cannot be preceded by very or in the comparative by even. You must use absolutely or really.

I was absolutely / really furious.

NOTE: You cannot use absolutely with ordinary adjectives.