What is an Adverb?

An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb (The man ran quickly). In the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies is in italics.

John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?) Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she smoke?) Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)

But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works verywell). Look at these examples:

Modify an adjective:- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)- That was extremely kind of you.

Modify another adverb:- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)- He drives extremely fast.

Note that adverbs have other functions, too. They can:

Modify a whole sentence: Obviously, I can't know everything. Modify a prepositional phrase: It's immediately inside the door.

Adverbs of Manner List

Alphabetical list of common single-word manner adverbs

Adverbs of manner form the largest group of adverbs. We make most of them simply by adding -ly to their corresponding adjective. This is an alphabetical list of 130 common single-word adverbs of manner. Adverbs of manner that do not end in -ly are shown in bold.

accidentallyangrilyanxiouslyawkwardlybadlybeautifullyblindlyboldlybravelybrightlybusily

calmlycarefullycarelesslycautiouslycheerfullyclearlycloselycorrectlycourageouslycruellydaringlydeliberatelydoubtfullyeagerlyeasilyelegantlyenormouslyenthusiasticallyequallyeventuallyexactlyfaithfullyfastfatallyfiercelyfondlyfoolishlyfortunatelyfranklyfranticallygenerouslygentlygladlygracefullygreedilyhappilyhardhastilyhealthilyhonestlyhungrilyhurriedlyinadequatelyingeniouslyinnocentlyinquisitively

irritablyjoyouslyjustlykindlylazilylooselyloudlymadlymortallymysteriouslyneatlynervouslynoisilyobedientlyopenlypainfullypatientlyperfectlypolitelypoorlypowerfullypromptlypunctuallyquicklyquietlyrapidlyrarelyreallyrecklesslyregularlyreluctantlyrepeatedlyrightfullyroughlyrudelysadlysafelyselfishlysensiblyseriouslysharplyshylysilentlysleepilyslowlysmoothly

sosoftlysolemnlyspeedilystealthilysternlystraightstupidlysuccessfullysuddenlysuspiciouslyswiftlytenderlytenselythoughtfullytightlytruthfullyunexpectedlyvictoriouslyviolentlyvivaciouslywarmlyweaklywearilywellwildlywisely

Adverbs of Place List

Alphabetical list of common single-word place adverbs

aboutaboveabroadanywhereawaybackbackwards (also backward)behindbelowdowndownstairseast (etc)elsewherefar

hereinindoorsinsidenearnearbyoffonoutoutsideovertheretowardsunderupupstairswhere

Common suffixes

-wards or -ward (backwards, downwards, eastward, forwards, homewards, upwards)

-where (anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere)

Note that some adverbs can also be prepositions.

She was waiting with a red scarf on. (adverb) She put the red scarf on the table. (preposition)

Adverbs of Time List

List of common single-word time adverbs

points of time (definite):

now then today tomorrow tonight yesterday

frequency (definite):

annually daily

fortnightly hourly monthly nightly quarterly weekly yearly

The word "bimonthly" is ambiguous and best avoided. Bimonthly can mean "twice a month"or "every two months". The same is true of "biyearly"/"biannually".

frequency (indefinite):

always constantly ever frequently generally infrequently never normally occasionally often rarely regularly seldom sometimes regularly usually

relationships in time (indefinite):

already before early earlier eventually finally first formerly just last late later lately

next previously recently since soon still yet

Adverbs of Degree List

Alphabetical list of common single-word degree adverbs

almostabsolutelyawfully*badly*barelycompletelydecidedlydeeplyenoughenormouslyentirelyextremelyfairlyfarfullygreatlyhardlyhighlyhowincrediblyindeedintenselyjustleastlesslittlelotsmostmuchnearlyperfectlypositivelypracticallypretty*

purelyquiteratherreallyscarcelysimplysosomewhatstronglyterribly*thoroughlytoototallyutterlyveryvirtuallywell