Lesson 4 — Activity 2: Adding Adverbs


You have seen how using adjectives can make your communication more interesting and more informative.
You can also use parts of speech called adverbs to improve the quality of your writing and speaking.

An adverb is:
  • a word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb
  • adverbs answer questions such as "When?", "How?", "How much?" or "How often?"
  • many adverbs end in "—ly"


She carefully opened the gift. "Carefully" is an adverb.
Here are some examples of adverbs in different sentences:
  • The surprised teacher carefully opened the beautiful gift. (How did she open the gift? Carefully. Adverbs often end in —ly.)
  • The teacher was very generous to share the chocolates. (How generous was the teacher? Very. This time the adverb is describing the adjective, which is the word "generous.")
  • The chocolates were eaten astonishingly quickly. (How quickly? Astonishingly. This time the adverb is describing another adverb, which is the word "quickly.")

Think about how the sentences would sound without the adverbs added:
  • The surprised teacher opened the beautiful gift.
  • The teacher was generous to share the chocolates.
  • The chocolates were eaten.

These sentences do not contain as much interesting information. Using adverbs adds variety and detail.


Adjectives usually go right before the noun they describe. Adverbs, however, can be placed in different places in a sentence.

Look at these examples of the same adverb placed differently in each sentence:
  • The surprised teacher carefully opened the beautiful gift.
  • The surprised teacher opened the beautiful gift carefully.
  • Carefully, the surprised teacher opened the beautiful gift.

Using adverbs allows your writing or speaking to be more colourful and interesting to your reader or listener.



Extra Help: Click here for a list of common adverbs.





Go to the next page to try a Self-check Activity on identifying adverbs.