Adverbs
Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
- a verb eg She walked slowly. (How did she walk?)
- an adjective eg He drove a very fast car. (How fast was his car?)
- another adverb eg It moved quite slowly down the mountainside. (How slowly did it move?)
Adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened. Adverbs usually end in -ly; however, many words and phrases not ending in -ly serve an adverbial function and an -ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb.
Comparative and superlative forms of adverbs
Most adverbs form the comparative using more and the superlative using most:
| Adverb | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| interestingly | more interestingly | most interestingly |
| mysteriously | more mysteriously | most mysteriously |
| gracefully | more gracefully | most gracefully |
some adverbs are irregular in the formation of comparatives and superlatives:
| Adverb | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| far | farther (place) further (place + time) | farthest furthest |
| early (adverbs ending with y) | earlier | earliest |
| good | better | best |
| badly | worse | worst |
| little | less | least |
| much | more | most |
Activities to support the strategy
Note: All activities are differentiated and can be adapted to suit the needs of students from Stage 1 through to Stage 5. Adjust outcomes to suit student needs.
Activity 1: adverb act out and charades
Ask students to take one of the basic sentences. Students then form a complete descriptive sentence by adding an adverb. Use simple sentences such as, “She walked into the room _______ .” Student then acts it out. slowly, sadly, joyously, excitedly, solemnly etc. They get up and walk into the room in a manner that shows the adverb.
This could become an extension activity developing as a game of charades.
This could be tied in with inferences and character development to demonstrate how the person is feeling based on the adverbs that are used to describe their actions.
Activity 2: does that make sense?
Everyone gets the same sentences with blanks and a different explanation of the characters feelings. For example:
“Joey woke up _______ on Monday morning. He _______ got out of bed. He went downstairs ______ and greeted his mum _______.
One group gets another card with “Joey is excited about his first cricket game” on it. This group may fill in the blanks with “excitedly” adverbs. Another group could get “Joey is dreading his first day of school in his new town.” so they would fill in the blanks with “slowly, quietly” etc.
Activity 3: round up
This game and all requisites can be found at the following web address eps.schoolspecialty.com. The object of the game is to get as many words as you can by modifying them with accurate attention grabbing adverbs. Game is for 2 or more players. Board, instructions and cards need to be printed, laminated and cut up.
Activity 4: matching verbs and nouns
Download and print the following resource www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/files/adverbsposter.pdf
Students in groups brainstorm as many verbs as possible for each adverb. For example, fall for awkwardly; run for fast; trip for often; land for soon etc. Students then develop sentences and scripts for actions.
Activity 5: sing
YouTube song teaching about adverbs www.youtube.com
Online resources
English zone: www.english-zone.com/grammar/pos-adv
Adverbs quiz: www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/adverbs/adverbs
References
Australian curriculum reference
ACELA1523: Understand how ideas can be expanded and sharpened through careful choice of verbs, elaborated tenses and a range of adverb groups/phrases
NSW syllabus reference
EN3-6B: Uses knowledge of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to respond to and compose clear and cohesive texts in different media and te
NSW literacy continuum reference
WRIC12M3: Aspects of writing, Cluster 12, Marker 3: Creates well planned, extended texts that include more complex and detailed subject matter and language features such as nominalisation.