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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Callum.
And me, Catherine. Hello.
I was just admiring your hat, Catherine.
Oh, do you like it?
Well, it's interesting.
Really interesting.
It's quite brightly coloured, isn't it?
And very shiny. Thank you, I think.
Anyway, moving on. In today's programme, we're going to be looking at adverbs and we'll focus on how they are used with adjectives, other adverbs, and also look at a couple of categories of adverbs and their usual positions.
Catherine, could you remind us what adverbs do and why they are important?
Certainly, Callum. Adverbs give us more information about verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
And they're important because they help us to answer questions such as where, when, how and how often.
And adverbs can add colour and depth to what we say and write.
For example, listen to this sentence.
Now, this is a perfectly good sentence.
It's clear and it's grammatically correct.
It tells us what happened, but it's not very descriptive.
Now, listen again, only this time we're going to add some adverbs.
OK, so the adverb calmly is very descriptive.
It tells us how the person did the action.
And there's an adverbial phrase as well.
Did you spot it? Listen again.
He calmly picked up his coat and left without making a sound.
So, did you spot the adverbial phrase?
It was without making a sound.
Exactly. So, these adverbs give us lots of information which, depending on the context, can be very dramatic and atmospheric.
This is 6 Minute Grammar and today we're taking a look at the position of adverbs.
Catherine, I want to take you back to your hat.
Really? Must you? I'm afraid I must.
But it's all in the cause of education.
OK, then. Can you remember how I described it?
OK, if I remember rightly, you said my hat was really interesting, quite brightly coloured and very shiny.
Ah, colour, I see what you've done there.
You've given examples of adverbs being used with adjectives and other adverbs.
You see, I'm not just a pretty face.
Hmm. Anyway, when we use adverbs to describe adjectives or other adverbs, they must go before the adjective or adverb being modified.
So, interesting is an adjective and the adverb you used was really.
The adverb goes before the adjective so the correct form is really interesting.
And it's the same with the adjective shiny.
You used the adverb very, so very shiny is correct.
And we also had an example of using an adverb to add information to another adverb, didn't we?
We did call him, you said, my hat was very brightly coloured.
And again, the modifying adverb, in this case very, must go before the adverb being described.
I think we've got a little time to look at some different categories of adverbs.
We have, so let's start with adverbs like always, never, often, regularly and hardly ever.
We call these adverbs of indefinite frequency and these are frequently used.
Ooh, there's another one, frequently.
These are frequently used before the main verb.
And there are two in this next example, never and always.
I have never met anyone like you.
I think I will always love you.
Now, let's compare adverbs of indefinite frequency to adverbs of definite frequency, like this week, this year, daily.
Listen out for the position of daily in this example.
I ride my bike daily.
So, these adverbs usually go in the third position, after the verb and object clause, and not directly before the main verb.
Thanks Catherine. Now, time for a short quiz to check some of today's points.
We're going to give some example sentences.
What are the adverbs and are they in the correct place?
Here's the first one.
He plays tennis well, very.
And the adverbs there are well and very, but the adverb very was in the wrong place.
It should go before well.
The correct sentence is, he plays tennis very well.
Next example, please.
It was a dark blue car that nearly hit me.
The adverb there is dark and it was in the correct place.
Final sentence, please.
I every day take the train to work.
And the adverb there, every day, is not in the correct place.
It needs to go after the verb clause, so I take the train to work every day.
You can find more about adverbs on our website, bbclearningenglish .com.
And please join us again for more six -minute grammar.
Goodbye. Bye. Now, one more question, Catherine.
Just why are you wearing a fluorescent purple cycle helmet in the studio?
That's a very good question, Catherine.
