Adjectives and adverbs. The grammatical category of degrees of comparison

Adverbs: meanings and functions
Adverbs have many different meanings and functions. They are especially important for indicating the time, manner, place, degree and frequency of something.

time	I never get up early at the weekends.
manner	Walk across the road carefully!
place	When we got there, the tickets had sold out.
degree	It’s rather cold, isn’t it?
frequency	I’m always losing my keys.

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.
Adverb phrases: forms
An adverb phrase consists of one or more words. The adverb is the head of the phrase and can appear alone or it can be modified by other words. Adverbs are one of the four major word classes, along with nouns, verbs and adjectives.
In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The other words that modify the adverb are underlined:
We usually go on holiday in August.
Time goes very quickly.
The day passed quickly enough.
This works really well for its size.
Luckily for us, the cost was not so high.
We kept the new money quite separately from what we’d already collected.
In general, these patterns are similar to adjective phrases.
See also:

• 
  Adjective phrases
  

Adverb phrases: types and meanings
An adverb phrase can consist of one adverb or an adverb plus other words before it (premodification) or after it (postmodification). Adverb phrases have many different meanings.
In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The other words that modify the adverb are underlined.

Example	type	used to give information about
We walked very carefully across the floor.	manner	how something happens
Here is where I was born. That’s it. Right there.	place	where something happens
Dad got home very late.	time	when something happens
This pill will take away the pain temporarily.	duration	how long something happens
They almost never invite people to their house these days.	frequency	how often something happens
A: Want some sugar in your coffee? B: Only half a spoon, please.	focusing	something specific
That dog behaves incredibly stupidly!	degree	how much or to what degree something happens
The train will probably be late. It doesn’t necessarily mean that.	certainty or necessity	how certain or necessary something is
Unfortunately for me, I can’t speak Italian.	evaluative	the speaker’s opinion of something
Personally, I don’t see why the party has to start so early.	viewpoint	the speaker’s perspective or reaction
It rained very heavily this summer. Therefore, many of the vegetables were very small.	linking	relationships between clauses and sentences

See also:

• 
  Adverbs: types
  

Adverb phrases: functions
Adverb phrases + verbs
We use adverb phrases most commonly to modify verbs. In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The verbs that they modify are underlined:
Children grow up really quickly.
I exercise very regularly and I eat quite healthily.
Adverb phrases + be
We use adverb phrases with be. This is especially typical of adverbs of place:
I’m upstairs. I’ll only be a minute.
A:
Have you seen my gloves?
B:
They’re right there, on the table.
Choose the correct form (adjective or adverb).
1. John held the plate _________________. (careful / carefully)
2. Julia is a _________________ person. (careful / carefully)
3. I ran _________________ to the station. (quick / quickly)
4. The journey was _________________. (quick / quickly)
5. You look _________________. Didn't you sleep well? (tired / tiredly)
6. The baby rubbed her eyes _________________. (tired / tiredly)
7. She sang _________________. (happy / happily)
8. You sound _________________. (happy / happily)
9. I speak English _________________. (well / good)
10. Her English is _________________. (well / good)
11. She cooks _________________. (terrible / terribly)
12. He is a _________________ cook. (terrible / terribly)
13. The music was _________________. (beautiful / beautifully)
14. She plays the piano _________________. (beautiful / beautifully)
15. That was a _________________ answer. (clever / cleverly)
16. She answered _________________. (clever / cleverly)
17. Your flat seems _________________ today. (tidy / tidily)
18. He put the dishes away _________________. (tidy / tidily)
19. He spoke _________________. (warm / warmly)
20. She is a very _________________ person. (warm / warmly)