CHAPTER XIII ADVERBS AND ADVERB EQUIVALENTS 294. The Function of the Adverb.-We have seen that nouns need adjective modifiers to render their meaning more specific. Verbs, likewise, require the assistance of other words to limit, define, or describe their meaning. Adjectives also require additional words sometimes to make their meaning more definite. These extra words that are added to verbs and adjectives, likewise, often need the help of other adverbs to limit their application. EXAMPLES 1. The train runs smoothly. 2. It is an exceedingly steep hill. 3. The decision was reached too quickly. 295. Adverbs Classified according to Use.-Classified according to their use there are four kinds of adverbs: 1. Limiting adverbs are adverbs that modify, restrict, or define the meaning. They set limits to the amount of the action. Example: He walks much, daily, or little. 2. Descriptive Adverbs are adverbs that describe the nature of the act, just as a descriptive adjective gives some quality of a noun. Example: He walks rapidly, slowly, carefully. 3. Interrogative Adverbs are adverbs that introduce questions. Example: How many men are there? 4. Conjunctive Adverbs are adverbs that have, in addition to their limiting force, the power to connect clauses. Example: They stopped off at Antwerp, where they met Hester. 296. Adverbs Classified According to Meaning.— For convenience, we may classify adverbs according to meaning, and we shall have six classes: 1. Adverbs of time: 2. Adverbs of place: 3. Adverbs of manner: 4. Adverbs of degree: 5. Adverbs of cause: They will be here soon. She seems unusually strong. 6. Adverbs of assertion: Yes, perhaps, I can go. 297. Adverbs Classified According to Form.-If we consider adverbs from the standpoint of form, we make the three following classes: 1. Simple adverbs, simple word forms that do not require an adverbial suffix. (a) They are there. (b) It is ice cold. EXAMPLES (c) We are too near to see well. 2. Flexional Adverbs, formed by the addition of a suffix to some other word. EXAMPLES (a) He struggled manfully. (b) William walks fastest. 3. Phrasal Adverbs, idiomatic adverbial phrases used with the force of single words. (a) Go at once. EXAMPLES (b) They walked arm in arm. (c) This will not do at all. 298. The Comparison of Adverbs.-Like adjectives, there are many adverbs that vary in degree. In this way they can express with greater accuracy the true limitation denoted. Most adverbs of one or two syllables not ending in ly, form their comparative degree by adding er, and their superlative by adding est. Most other adverbs of more than one syllable are compared by prefixing more, most, less, or least to the positive form. 299. Adjectives and Adverbs.-There are some adverbs that have the same form as adjectives. It is, however, not the form of the word, but its use that determines what part of speech it is. EXAMPLES Adjective: His voice is loud. Adjective: The train is slow. Adverb: To go slow is sometimes more difficult than to go fast. EXERCISE 300. Tell which words are adjectives and which are adverbs in the following sentences: 1. The rose smells sweet. 2. Speak low or you will wake her. 3. Let the swing remain still. 4. She plays very well. 5. Is it well for you to be here? 6. The enemy stood firm. 7. She seems amiable. 8. The river looks beautiful at night. 9. He returned late. 10. How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank. II. It tastes sour. 12. She sings little. 13. He grows large very rapidly. 14. The sun rises early in June. 301. Adverb Equivalents. Just as is the case with adjectives, there are several kinds of sentence elements that perform the same function as the adverb. They are the following: (a) A noun expressing extent of space, duration of time, or quantity. EXAMPLES I. We lived in London four years. 2. George walked two miles. 3. It weighs ten pounds. (b) A noun or pronoun used as an indirect object of a verb. EXAMPLES = 1. Give Horace an apple Give an apple to Horace. 2. They sent him all sorts of good things-They sent all sorts of good things to him. (c) An adverbial phrase. EXAMPLES 1. They are soiled beyond recognition. 2. He drove up in a carriage. (d) An adverbial clause. EXAMPLES 1. They set out as soon as it became light. 2. They set out, although it was still dark. 3. We cannot go, if he fails us. EXERCISE 302. Point out the adverb equivalents in the following sentences, and explain the nature of each: 1. They traveled many miles. 2. Give me the book. 3. They may go in the morning. 4. His life was like a great picture, full of glowing color. 5. Burns always carried a book in his pocket to study dur ing his spare moments. 6. They began life on the farm. 7. He still lives in the hearts and memories of the Scottish people. 8. If you smell many flowers, they overfill your sense with fragrance. 9. As the Knight continued to fix his eyes on the distant palm trees, it seemed to him as if some object were moving among them. IO. He had a fever when he was in the south. |