Basic Details
Word: Adverb
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A word that tells us more about a verb, an adjective or another adverb, such as how, when or where something happens: quickly, soon, here, very.
Word origin: Comes from Latin adverbium, from ad, to, and verbum, word or verb.
How to Spell Adverb
Syllables: ad - verb
Tricky part: It is simply ad + verb, so there is one d and the second part is spelt exactly like the word verb.
Watch out for: addverb, advurb, adverbe
Memory tip: An adverb adds to a verb: ad + verb. Write the whole word verb after ad and nothing more.
Usage Examples
Example 1: In the sentence 'she sang sweetly', sweetly is an adverb.
Example 2: Our teacher asked us to underline every adverb in the paragraph.
Example 3: Add an adverb to show how the tortoise walked.
Fun Fact
Not every adverb ends in ly: often, soon, here, very and never are adverbs, while friendly and lovely are adjectives.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. adverb 2. adjectiv 3. pronown 4. preposision
a) a word such as in or under that shows position
b) a word used in place of a noun
c) a word that tells how, when or where something happens
d) a word that describes a noun
Show answer
c) a word that tells how, when or where something happens. Pronoun, adjective and preposition each have a slip, while adverb is exactly ad plus verb.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
In the answer key, the word soon is marked as the rbedva of time.
a) adverb
b) proverb
c) verdict
d) advert
Show answer
a) adverb. Advert has a t and no b, while proverb and verdict need letters such as p, o, c and i.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
When we wrote about the cheetah running fast, our English teacher explained that fast was an advurb in that sentence and not an adjective.
a) explained
b) advurb
c) adjective
d) cheetah
Show answer
b) advurb. Write verb as you already know it, v-e-r-b, straight after ad.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which word is an adverb?
a) slowly
b) slowness
c) slow
d) slower
Show answer
a) slowly
2. In the line 'we will leave tomorrow', the adverb is ____.
a) we
b) tomorrow
c) will
d) leave
Show answer
b) tomorrow
