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Lessons>Grammar Exercises>Adverb Clause, Adverb Phrase Lesson Plan |
FCE English GrammarAdverb Clause, Phrase Definition - Lesson Plan Activity
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There are many types of adverbs, adverb phrases and clauses.
This page will introduce some of the basic types and their
functions.
1. What is an adverb?
Straight to exercise
2. What is an adverb phrase?
Straight to exercise
3. What is an adverb clause?
Straight to exercise
1. What is an adverb?
Basically, most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something
is done. In other words, they describe the manner,
place, or time of an action.
Here are some examples:
Manner |
slowly |
Tom drives slowly. |
Place |
here |
The party is going to
take place here. |
Time |
yesterday |
I called him yesterday. |
How to recognize an adverb
Many adverbs end with the suffix -LY. Most of these are created
by adding -LY to the end of an adjective, like this:
slow |
slowly |
delightful |
delightfully |
hopeless |
hopelessly |
aggressive |
aggressively |
However, this is NOT a reliable way to find out whether a word
is an adverb or not, for two reasons: many adverbs do NOT end in
-LY (some are the same as the adjective form), and many words
which are NOT adverbs DO end in -LY (such as kindly,
friendly, elderly and lonely, which are
adjectives). Here are some examples of adverbs which are the same
as adjectives:
fast |
fast |
late |
late |
early |
early |
The best way to tell if a word is an adverb is to try making a
question, for which the answer is the word. If the question uses
how, where or when, then the word is probably
an adverb. Here is an example:
John plays tennis
aggressively. |
How does John play
tennis? |
Yes -- uses HOW. |
They have a small
house. |
What kind of house
do they have? |
No -- uses WHAT KIND OF,
so this is an adjective. |
Steven called the police
immediately. |
When did Steven
call the police? |
Yes -- uses WHEN. |
Try Exercise
2. What is an adverb phrase?
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 above, 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:
Frequency |
usually |
Mary 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:
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 |
Sally buys two CDs every
month. |
Purpose |
for his mother |
John bought the flowers
for his mother. |
Adverb phrases made with infinitives
Another kind of adjective phrase can be made with the infinitive
form of a verb. Most of these phrases express purpose, as in
these examples:
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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Try Exercise
3. What is an adverb clause?
Adverbs can also be clauses, containing a subject and a full verb.
This page will explain the basic types of adverb clauses (sometimes
called "adverbial clauses") and how to recognize them.
Adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses
Look at these sentences:
I saw the movie yesterday. |
I saw the movie on Friday. |
I saw the movie before I
left for Paris. |
In the first sentence, "yesterday" is a one-word adverb, "on
Friday" is an adverb phrase, and "before I left for Paris" is a adverb
clause. All of them answer the question "When?", but the adverb clause
has a subject ("I") and a full verb ("left"). It is introduced by
"before", so it is a dependent clause. This means that it
cannot stand alone: "Before I left for Paris" would not be a full
sentence. It needs a main clause ("I saw the movie"). An adverb
clause, then, is a dependent clause that does the same job as an
adverb or an adverb phrase.
Types of adverb clause
There are many types of adverb clauses. Here are some examples of
the most common types:
Place |
Where? |
Wherever there are computers,
there is Microsoft software. |
Time |
When? |
After the fruit is harvested,
it is sold at the market. |
Cause |
Why? (What caused this?) |
I didn't call her because
I'm shy. |
Purpose |
Why? (What was the reason for
doing this?) |
She took a computer course
so that she could get a better job. |
Concession |
Why is this unexpected? |
Although Gerry has a Master's
degree, he works as a store clerk. |
Condition |
Under what conditions? |
If you save your money,
you will be able to go to college. |
As you can see from the examples above, most adverb clauses can be
recognized because they are introduced by a particular word or phrase
(such as "when", "so that", etc.). These words and phrases are called
subordinating conjunctions, and there are many of them.
after, before, until, while,
because, since, as, so that, in order that, if, unless, whether,
though, although, even though, where |
Try Exercise
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