Adverbs for class 5 English

Concept : Use of Adverbs

Adverbs add extra information about an adjective, a verb or another adverb. Use of adverbs in a sentence lend a rhythm and texture to it. In this chapter students of class 5 will revise adverbs and know the general mistakes to avoid and the exceptions to consider while using adverbs.

In this learning concept, students will learn:

• Types of adverb with examples.
• Difference between adjective and adverb.
• Adverbs of manner definition with examples.
• Adverb of time definition with examples.
• Adverb of place definition with examples.
• Adverb of frequency definition with examples.
• Adverb of degree definition with examples.

All the learning concepts of class 5 have used vivid examples, illustrations and mind maps to make it interesting. Students can also access the adverb worksheet for class 5 to check their understanding of the topic. The solutions to these are also available in easily downloadable PDF format.

Definition:

• An adverb modifies adjective or a verb or an adverb or a complete sentence.
• They describe when, where, when, or how the action happens.
• Adverbs are usually formed by adding ‘ly’ with an adjective.

Types of Adverbs

There are five types of adverbs.

1. Adverbs of Manner tell an action is performed. They are used at the end of a clause or just before the verb it modifies. Most of the adverbs of manner are words that end with ‘ly’.

   Example:

   He trimmed the plants neatly.
   (How did he trim the plants? The answer is ‘neatly’.)

2. Adverbs of Time tell when an action is performed. They are usually placed at the start or end of a sentence.

   Example:

   They recently shifted to Noida. (When did they shift?)

3. Adverb of Place tells where an action is performed. They are placed after the main verb or the clause that they change. They do not modify other adverbs or adjectives.

   Example:

   I always drink a glass of warm milk before going to bed. (How often do you drink milk before bed?)

4. Adverb of Degree indicates the intensity of something. They are placed before the word they change, although sometimes, they follow the word (for instance, the word ‘enough’).

   Example:

   I’m so excited about the trip. (How excited are you about the trip?)

Difference between an Adjective and an Adverb

Students tend to confuse adjectives and adverbs as both are modifiers. Let us have a look at how they differ.

Common Mistakes

1. For adjectives that end with ‘y’, we usually replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and then add ‘ly’ to change it to an adverb.

   Example:

   
2. If the adjective ends in ‘le’, change the ‘e’ to a ‘y’ to make it an adverb.

   Example:

   
3. If an adjective ends in ‘ic’, add ‘ally’ to make it an adverb.

   Example:

   
4. Adverbs of place are sometimes confused with prepositions that define the noun’s location. Just remember that prepositions are followed by objects, and adverbs of place indicate movement in a direction. After a preposition, there is always a noun or a pronoun.

   Example:

   Is your mother in? (Adverb)
   Is your mother in the house? (Preposition).

5. Students tend to confuse adjectives and adverbs. Remember, if you are changing a noun or pronoun, use an adjective. If you are changing anything else apart from a noun or pronoun, use an adverb.
   One of the most commonly confused adjective/adverb pairs is well and good. The word ‘well’ is an adverb and ‘good’ is an adjective.

   Example:

   He plays violin good. ❌
   She’s doing good. ❌
   In the first sentence, good is modifying the verb plays; therefore the use of good which is an adjective, is wrong.
   He plays violin well. ✅
   She’s doing well. ✅
   In the second sentence, good modifies the verb ‘doing’. This means that well, which is an adverb—must be used.

Note: The sentence “she’s doing good” is not grammatically incorrect, but only when it means “She is doing good things” rather than when it explains how a person feels.

Exceptions

1. Sometimes adverbs may not have the suffix ‘ly’ added at the end. Particularly adverbs of time and place may not necessarily follow this rule.

   Example:

   1. She has arrived now.
   2. She plays the guitar well.

   Here ‘now’ is an adverb that does not contain ‘ly’.

2. Some adjectives like jolly, silly, ugly do end in ‘ly’. Check the word that is being modified to identify if it is an adverb or an adjective.

   Example:

   She is a jolly girl. (In this sentence, jolly modifies the word girl. The word ‘girl’ is a noun, which means the word ‘jolly’ is not an adverb though it has a suffix -ly.).
   Below are examples of adjectives that end in ‘ly’.

   Adjectives with ‘ly’ ending
   bubbly	brotherly
   chilly	costly
   homely	cowardly
   friendly	lonely

3. Similarly, there are some nouns which end in ‘ly’ but are not adverbs. Below is a list of nouns that end in ‘ly’ but are not adverbs.

   Nouns with ‘ly’ Suffix
   bully	ally
   Italy	melancholy
   anomaly	assembly
   belly	family
   butterfly	dragonfly
   jelly	monopoly
   potbelly	rally
   tally	firefly

Likewise, there are some verbs which end in ‘ly’ but are not adverbs. Below given a list of verbs that end in ‘ly’ but are not adverbs.

Take a look at the mind map below for quick understanding.

Concept : Adverbs of Time and Frequency

Adverbs of time and frequency indicate how often or when something happens. In this chapter, students will know the adverb of time and adverb of frequency definition, usage, and exceptions to rules while using them.

In this learning concept, students will learn the following:

• Uses of Adverbs of time with examples.
• Types of adverbs of frequency with examples in sentences.
• Definite adverb of frequency words’ list.
• Indefinite adverb of frequency words’ list.
• Structure of sentence with an adverb of frequency.
• Structure of sentence with an adverb of time.
• Difference between adverb of time and frequency.

The learning concepts for class 5 have been covered using examples, illustrations, and mind maps for students to learn and understand them better. Students can solve the adverbs of time worksheet and adverb of frequency worksheet to check their understanding of the topic. The solutions to these are also available in easily downloadable PDF format.

Definition

An adverb qualifies an adjective, a verb, other adverb or a complete sentence. Adverbs mainly talks about manner, place, time, and frequency.
In this concept, we will learn about two main types of adverbs.

1. Adverb of time
2. Adverb of frequency

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time indicates when or for how long an action takes place or will take place.

• It is used to indicate a point in time.
• Denotes the past: For instance words like the day before, yesterday, ago, last month/week/year shows the past.
• Shows the present: For instance words like yet, still, while, when shows the present.
• Speaks about future: For instance words like soon, next, then, week/year/month, tomorrow, in 5 days, the day after tomorrow indicate the future.
• They express a period of time. For instance words like for, since, two days, one year, three weeks, four months, etc. indicate the length of a time period.

Examples

Adverb of Frequency

Adverbs that tell us how often or how frequent an action takes place.

Examples

1. She rarely drinks milk.
2. She goes to the library regularly.

Types of Adverb of Frequency

There are two types of Adverb of Frequency. They are:

1. Definite Frequency- Adverbs of definite frequency specifies how often the action takes place. These adverbs usually occur at the end or at the beginning of a sentence.

   Examples

   1. I exercise daily.
   2. Every day, she feed the street dogs.

   List of Words that show Definite Frequency
   hourly	thrice
   daily	twice
   weekly	once
   monthly	twice a year
   yearly/annually	once a minute
   every hour	everyday
   every second	every minute
   quarterly	half yearly

2. Indefinite Frequency – This type of adverb does not specify or a give a clear idea of the frequency of the activity. Their position depends on the type of verbs used in the sentence. Sometimes in the beginning or middle or end you will find them.

   Examples

   1. She visits her grandparents often.
   2. Sometimes I am late to work.
   3. I have never seen them before.

   List of Words that show Indefinite Frequency
   always	never
   generally	normally
   occasionally	sometimes
   usually	hardly ever
   rarely	never
   soon	then

Common Mistakes

1. When a helping verb (e.g. will, have, shall, should, would, could, can, might, may, must) is followed by the main verb, then the adverb of frequency must be placed between the auxiliary and the main verb.
   
   

   Examples :

   She must always do the homework on time.

2. Adverbs of time come after the verb and the object. The sentence order is :

   Examples :

   Ranveer went to the amusement park yesterday.

3. In a sentence if an aspect of adverb of time (duration, frequency, and when) is omitted or the position is changed, then the other two maintain their position with respect to each other.

   Examples :

   1. I went to learn tailoring for three hours every evening last year.
   2. I went to learn tailoring every evening for three hours last year.
   3. Last year, I went to learn tailoring every evening for three hours.

Exceptions

1. When you use an adverb with the verb ‘to be’, be careful with the word order as the adverb of frequency is written after it and not before.
   
2. There are certain English idioms that are also used as adverbs of frequency. For instance idioms like every now and then, now and again or now and then, once in a while, time and again, from time to time.

   Examples

   1. I update my laptop from time to time.
   2. I have told you time and again – to keep your study table clean.
   3. Once in a while it is not harmful to have a chocolate.
3. Adverb of time can also appear in the beginning of a sentence. The position depends on the purpose. If the adverb of time is mentioned at the start, then it is done to put extra emphasis on the time. If placed at the beginning of the sentence, a comma is used although it is not always essential.

   Examples

   1. Yesterday, Ranveer went to the amusement park.
   2. For 14 years I have studied in this school, and not once I have fought with anybody.