Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

adverb

Syllabification: (ad·verb)
Pronunciation: /ˈadˌvərb/

Translate adverb | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of adverb

noun

Grammar
  • a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., gently, quite, then, there).

Origin:

late Middle English: from Latin adverbium, from ad- 'to' (expressing addition) + verbum 'word, verb'

Grammar

Adverbs constitute a word class or part of speech.Use as adverbialsThey are often used as sentence adverbials, or adjuncts, providing information about, for example, place, time, and manner:placehere away somewhere timesoon already still mannereasily deftly slowly Use with adjectives and other adverbsAdverbs can also be used to modify adjectives and thus form adjective phrases:

adverb adjective
veryeasy
ratherattractive
They can work in a similar way with other adverbs to make adverb phrases:
adverb adverb
quitesoon
extremelyslowly
FormationMany adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding −ly:slow + ly → slowly Not all adverbs end in −ly, and some of the most common adverbs are not formed in this way. For example:afterward rather very See also adverb formation.

adverb in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of adverb in the British & World English dictionary