Tuesday, December 21, 2010

English Grammar-Adverb Phrases


Introduction

An adverb may be a single word, such as quickly, here or yesterday. However, adverbs can also be phrases, some made with prepositions, others made with infinitives. This page will explain the basic types of adverb phrases (sometimes called "adverbial phrases") and how to recognize them.

Basic types of adverbs
In the section on adverbs, you learned about three basic types of adverb: manner, place and time adverbs. There are at least two more that are important. Frequency adverbs answer the question "How often?" about an action. Purpose adverbs answer the question "Why?". Here are some examples:
Type
Adverb
Example
Frequency
usually
Mika usually gets up early.
Purpose
for fun
I write computer programs for fun.
While the first example, usually, is a single word, the second example (for fun) is a phrase consisting of a preposition and a noun -- in other words, it is a prepositional phrase which functions as an adverb phrase.

Adverb phrases made with prepositions
All kinds of adverb phrases can be made with prepositions. Here are some examples:
Type
Adverb phrase
Example
Manner
with a hammer
The carpenter hit the nail with a hammer.
Place
next door
The woman who lives next door is a doctor.
Time
before the holidays
We must finish our project before the holidays.
Frequency
every month
Jodie buys two CDs every month.
Purpose
for his mother
Jack bought the flowers for his mother.

Adverb phrases made with infinitives
Another kind of adverb phrase can be made with the infinitive form of a verb. Most of these phrases express purpose, as in these examples:
Type
Adverb phrase
Example
Purpose
to buy a car
I'm saving my money to buy a car.
Purpose
to support the team
The students all showed up to support the team.
Purpose
to show to her mother
Sally brought a painting home from school to show to her mother.
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1 comment:

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