This is the first of a series of lessons on adverbials. In this lesson we look at why we use adverbials, how they are formed and where they go in a sentence.
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta
Adverbials are used to give more information about a verb. Adverbs can be placed in different groups according to their ‘function’.
Adverbials of manner explain how something happened:
He ran as fast as he could. We worked hard.
Adverbials of place explain where something happened:
This is my first time here.
Adverbials of time explain when something happened:
They went out yesterday.
Adverbials of frequency explain how often something happened:
I usually walk to work.
Adverbials of certainty explain how probable something is:
Perhaps he’s gone home.
Adverbials are:
Adverbs – He left early. We’ll see you later.
Intensifiers can be added to adverbs:
He left really early.’ll see you much later.
A phrase with a preposition can also be an adverbial:
He left really early in the morning. We’ll see you in a few hours.
We usually place adverbials after a verb:
I live here. We left after a few minutes.
Adverbials can go after an object.
She answered the phone quietly. I met my friends yesterday evening.
However adverbials of frequency usually come in front of the main verb:
I often go skiing in the Alps. I’ve never been to America.
Adverbials of time can go in at the beginning of a clause too:
Yesterday was a busy day at work. – I was busy at work yesterday.
Choose the correct sentence form the following:
