Verbs and Adverbs

I. Verbs
-It is a word used to express an action or otherwise helps to make a statement.

-Verbs used to express action are called action verbs.

-Verbs that otherwise help to make a statement are called linking verbs.

Actions Verbs Linking Verbs

Fred found his folder. Sam is silly.

Rudolph wrote a riddle. The soup smells good.

Sally scorched her skirt. Larry looks upset.

-As you can notice, the action verbs (found, wrote, scorched), the subject is the “doer” of the
action; it is involved in the action. However, the linking verbs (is, smells, looks) describe the
subject; they don’t convey any action; they help tell us something about Sam, the soup, and
Larry.

- The main feature of verbs is that they must be capable of being used in the three verb
tenses: present, past, and future.

Present: Alfred answers the phone in the mornings.

Terry always tells the truth.

Past: Alfred answered the phone.

Terry told the truth.

Future: Alfred will answer the phone tomorrow.

Terry will tell the truth.

 Present Tense:

-The present tense has a regular ending, except with the third-person singular pronouns (he,
she, it), it takes (-e) s ending.

Answer Tell
I answer tell
You answer tell
He answers tells
She answers tells
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 It answers tells
We answer tell
You answer tell
they answer tell

-The form of the third-person singular verb is quite regular, with only the following
exceptions:

Verb Irregular Third person Singular Form

Be is

Do does

Have has

Say says

-When the verb is not conjugated, we say it is in the BASE FORM or the DICTIONARY
FORM, (be, have, answer, tell, write….)

 Past Tense:

-There are two different types of past-tense: regular and irregular. The regular verbs form
their past tense by adding –(e)d to the base form.

Base Form Past-Tense Form

Pass passed

Cough coughed

Dread dreaded

Roll rolled

Smile smiled

Turn turned

-Some irregular verbs’ past-tense form:

Base Form Past-Tense Form Base Form Past-Tense Form

Dig dug hear heard
Freeze froze say said
Ring rang sell sold
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 Run ran tell told
See saw creep crept
Flee fled keep kept
leave left sleep slept
teach taught think thought
put put cost cost
bet bet rid rid
shed shed shut shut
wet wet

-Be is the most irregular of all verbs in the past tense. (I was, you were, he was, she was, we
were, you were, they were).

 Future Tense:

-Remarkably, the future tense is completely regular; it consists of the helping verb will plus
the base form of the verb.

Base Form Future-Tense Form

answer will answer
bet will bet
catch will catch
do will do
go will go
see will see
have will have
be will be

-How do we identify verbs in a sentence?

-The fact that verbs and verbs alone have past and future tenses, provides us with a simple
and highly reliable test for verbs: shift (change) the tense of suspected words to the past or
future. It the result is grammatical, we know that the words were indeed verbs. There is, of
course, one catch: the sentence cannot otherwise change meaning.

-Let’s consider the word chain in the following example:

The chain is rusty. (noun)

We chain the dogs every night. (verb)

-It is only when we shift chain into the past or the future tense, that it becomes clear that
chain in the second sentence is a verb.

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 The chained is rusty. (Incorrect)

We chained the dogs every night. (Grammatically correct)

The will chain is rusty. (Incorrect)

We will chain the dogs every night. (Grammatically correct)

-We confirm that chain in the first sentence is a noun and in the second sentence is a verb.

-So, in order to identify verbs in a sentence, we use the tense-shift test.

Tense-shift test for verbs: Shift the word into either the past-tense or future-tense
forms. If the result is grammatical (and the meaning of the sentence has not been
otherwise changed), then the word must be a verb.

-Remember that only verbs can be shifted to the past or future tenses.

Exercise: Underline the verbs in the following sentences. Confirm your answer by
shifting the verb to either past or future tense.

0. The wheels slide into that groove.

Answer: The wheels slide into that groove.

Confirmation: Past: slid Future: will slide

1. They score more points in the second half.

2. Critics characterize his plots as simplistic.
3. The cookies have too much sugar in them.
4. The rules generate a number of sentences.
5. South-bound trains usually depart from Platform 2.
6. Red wines generally improve with age.
7. Time and tide wait for no man.
8. They usually attain their goals on time.
9. The aches and pains persist for several days.
10.Crop rotation and good tilling habits reduce erosion.
11.The rabbits need a lot of water and fresh food.
12.The sales people typically exaggerate about their successes.
13.The wines go well with the food.

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 14.Grammarians classify words by part of speech categories.
15.Rolling stones gather no moss.

II. Adverbs
-An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

1. Adverbs that modify verbs:

-They answer adverb question; questions beginning with when, where, why, how, how often,
etc; and they are movable.

-Adverbs modifying verbs tell us about the time, place, reason, manner, frequency, etc, of
the verb’s action. In order to identify the adverbs that modify verbs in the sentence, we
use two tests: the adverb question test, and the adverb movement test.

The adverb question test: If a word answers an adverb question (where, when,
why, how…..), then the word must be an adverb that modifies the verb.
Examples:

Time: They unloaded the truck yesterday. (adverb of time)

Adverb question: When did they unload the truck?

Answer: Yesterday

Place: They parked the truck there. (adverb of place)

Adverb question: Where did they park the truck?

Answer: There

Manner: They parked the truck carefully. (adverb of manner)

Adverb question: How did they park the truck?

Answer: Carefully

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(The how test is tricky because predicate adjectives can also answer how questions. For
example, in the sentence John is sick, the word sick is a predicate adjective which also
answers the question: How is John? Answer: Sick.)

Frequency: They use the truck occasionally. (adverb of frequency)

Adverb question: How often do they use the truck?

Answer: Occasionally

Exercise 1: Underline the adverbs that modify verbs. Confirm your answer by using
the adverb question test.

0. Watson hastily copied Holmes’ secret message.

adv

Adverb question: How did Watson copy Holmes’ secret message?

Adverb answer: Hastily

1. The vet had examined the horse recently.

2. The ants were crawling everywhere.
3. He quickly unzipped the tent flap.
4. She answers all the questions correctly.
5. The operator will return your call soon.
6. They gradually became accustomed to the high altitude.
7. We rarely watch TV.
8. Leon invariably sleeps through his 8 o’clock class.
9. There will be a full moon tonight.

-Then, you have the second test, the adverb movement test to identify adverbs modifying
verbs.

-Let’s consider the following examples:

Toto chased cats frequently.

Toto frequently chased cats.
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 Frequently, Toto chased cats.

Sam opened the door cautiously.

Sam cautiously opened the door.
Cautiously, Sam opened the door.

Alice opened the bottle eagerly.

Alice eagerly opened the bottle.
Eagerly, Alice opened the bottle.
-Notice the use of the comma when the adverb is at the beginning of the sentence.

The adverb movement test for adverbs modifying verbs: If a word can be moved
to a different position in the sentence, then the word must be an adverb that
modifies the verb.

Exercise 2: Underline the adverbs that modify verbs. Confirm your answer by using
the adverb movement test.
0. The waiter finally took our orders.
Answer: The waiter finally took our order.
adv
Confirmation: The waiter took our order finally.
Finally, the waiter took our order.
1. Toto is usually a good little dog.
2. The teller carefully examined the signatures on the check.
3. He reluctantly counted out the cash and gave it to me.
4. They will twist in the wind slowly.
5. The lawyer looked at the defendant knowingly.
6. The bird repeatedly fluttered at his reflection in the window.
7. We routinely check the files for errors.
8. Magically the key opened the door.
9. We will find out the truth ultimately.

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2. Adverbs that modify adjectives:

-Adjectives modify nouns. Adjectives cannot modify other adjectives, only adverbs can do
that. Here are some examples of adverbs (bold) modifying adjectives (underlined).

a completely false idea

a very accurate guess
some rather unususal performances
some quite dangerous weapons
the terribly hot afternoon
some unusually good results
-In order to identify adverbs that modify adjectives in a sentence, we use the pair test, and
this is how we use it:
It turned out to be a completely false idea
adj adv adj N
We can say: false idea (false is an adjective modifying the noun idea)
We cannot say: *completely false X
We can say: an idea (an is an adjective modifying the noun idea)
We can say: completely false (completely is an adverb modifying the adjective false)

The pair test for adverbs modifying adjectives: if a word in a noun phrase
CANNOT be paired up with the noun, then that word is an adverb modifying an
adjective.

Exercise 3: In the following identify all the modifying adjectives and their modifying
adverbs. Confirm your answer using the pair test.
0. Holmes offered Watson a crushingly logical explanation.
Answer: Holmes offered Watson a crushingly logical explanation.
adv adj
Confirmation: We cannot say: *crushingly explanation / We can say: crushingly logical
1. Their proposal brought a very swift response.
2. A day in the country was an extremely good plan.
3. They bought a quite beautiful old print.
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 4. Their first rafting trip had been a really terrifying experience.
5. The administration proposed a surprisingly bold diplomatic initiative.
6. I thought it was a very funny movie.
7. Donald memorized tediously long lists.
8. The perpetually damp British weather became depressing.
9. In an early story, an apparently naïve young woman outwitted Holmes.
10.A good mystery writer makes us miss the obviously important facts.

3. Adverbs modifying other adverbs:

-Adverbs that modify verbs are themselves modified by other adverbs. Here is an
illustration:

They always answer their mail very promptly.

-always is an adverb of time modifying the verb answer. Promptly, too, is an adverb of
manner modifying the verb answer, and it is at the same time modified by another adverb
very.

Exercise 4: Underline all the adverbs in the following sentences. Underline twice the
adverb that modifies another adverb.

0. We saw the movie rather recently.

Answer: We saw the movie rather recently. (recently is an adverb of time modifying the verb
saw. And it is modified by the adverb rather).

1. We will be done pretty soon.

2. We played surprisingly well.
3. She talks so softly.
4. The changes have occurred somewhat irregularly.
5. Harvard fought rather fiercely.

Exercise 5: Identify all the adverbs in the following (adverbs modifying verbs, adverbs
modifying adjectives, and adverbs modifying other adverbs).

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 0. Tuesday, I went there early.

Answer: Tuesday, I went there early.

1. The savagely singing bugs nearly ruined our camping trip.

2. Unusually, glib strangers naturally arouse suspicions.
3. They nearly always come to see us afterwards.
4. Recently, we sent you our newly published report.
5. Nearly every reporter had filed a totally misleading story.
6. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
7. She smiled very sweetly.
8. Invariably Uncle Andrew makes a truly embarrassing speech.
9. The disgustingly dirty water eventually evaporated.
10.The unusually dry summer threatened many crops here.
11.The badly beaten army hastily withdrew from the field.
12.Unfortunately, I have to return there tonight.
13.The incredibly loud noise completely overwhelmed us.
14.Personally, I think she finally made a very good choice.
15.The unscheduled conference made us look foolish.

Sources Used:
- Mark Lester’s Grammar and Usage in the Classroom, Second Edition.

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