An adverb tells us more about a verb — how, when, where or how often an action happens. For example, in 'He behaved foolishly', 'foolishly' is an adverb that tells us the manner of the action.

What are the main kinds of adverbs?

The main kinds are adverbs of manner (how — foolishly, quickly), time (when — yesterday, now), place (where — here, in the park), frequency (how often — always, rarely), degree (very, quite) and sentence adverbs (luckily, unfortunately).

How are adverbs of manner formed?

Most adverbs of manner are made by adding -ly to an adjective (quiet → quietly, slow → slowly). But some adverbs (fast, hard, late) have the same form as the adjective, and some adjectives that already end in -ly (friendly, silly) are turned into adverbials with 'in a … manner/way'.

What is the usual order of adverbs in the end position?

When several adverbs come at the end of a sentence the normal order is Manner, Place, Time (MPT). With a verb of movement (go, come, send) the adverb of place comes first, so the order becomes PMT.

What happens when a negative adverb is moved to the front?

When a negative adverb such as never, seldom, rarely or hardly is placed at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, the rest of the sentence takes the form of a question — for example, 'Never did he obey any order.'

Grammar Chapter 10: Adverbs and Adverbials

Learn and Practise Grammar · Kinds, Position & Order

English Grammar · Odisha Board Class 9 · Notes + Solved Activities + 25 Quiz

📖 Grammar Chapter 10 — Adverbs and Adverbials: Adverbs tell us more about verbs — how, when, where and how often an action happens. This chapter covers all the kinds of adverbs, how they are formed, their position & order (the MPT rule), their comparison, and the use of tricky adverbs like yet, still, already, only and enough.

A. What is an Adverb?

An adverb gives extra information about a verb — how, when, where or how often an action happened. After a link verb (be, become, feel, look, seem) we use an adjective, not an adverb (He felt happy, not ‘happily’). An adverbial means the same but has more than one word (quietly = in a quiet manner).

Wh-question	Example answer	Kind of adverb
How?	foolishly, quickly, sadly	Adverb of Manner
When?	now, yesterday, at 10 o'clock	Adverb of Time
Where?	here, there, in the park	Adverb of Place
How often?	always, often, rarely, never	Adverb of Frequency

B. Form of the Adverb

Most adverbs of manner add -ly to the adjective (quiet → quietly, slow → slowly).
Some adjectives already end in -ly (friendly, silly, motherly, lovely). We do NOT add another -ly; instead we say in a + adjective + manner / way (Pintoo behaves in a friendly manner).
Some adverbs end in -ward (direction): backward, forward, homeward, upward.
Some end in -wise (manner/direction): clockwise, breadthwise.
Some start with a-: afresh, aside, aloud, afar, abroad.
Some adverbs have the same form as the adjective — fast, hard, late, early, high, monthly, better, well (He works hard; this train goes fast).

Same word, different meaning: hard (with effort) / hardly (almost not); near (close by) / nearly (almost); late (after time) / lately (recently); free (without paying) / freely (without restriction). good is an adjective, well is its adverb (but ‘well’ = in good health is an adjective).

C. Kinds of Adverbs

Manner (how): usually ends in -ly; comes at the end, sometimes in the middle (We walked slowly).
Time (when): yesterday, soon, just; usually end position, can go front.
Place (where / direction): here, there, upstairs, in the park; usually end position.
Frequency (how often): always, often, sometimes, never; can go in all three positions.
Degree (how much): very, quite, too, fairly, absolutely — modify adjectives or other adverbs (very cold, quite easily).
Sentence adverbs: give a view on the whole sentence — luckily, unfortunately, of course; usually at the front.

D. Position & Order of Adverbs

Adverbs mainly go in three positions: front, middle, end. (Slowly I opened the door / I slowly opened the door / I opened the door slowly.)

Front: sentence adverbs and most time adverbs (Yesterday I met him).
Middle: after a ‘be’ verb; after the first auxiliary (I have never seen a tiger); before a main verb that is not ‘be’ (I soon realized my mistake).
End: most manner, place and exact-frequency adverbs. An adverb does NOT come between a verb and its object (She painted the picture carefully — not ‘painted carefully the picture’).

The MPT rule: when several adverbs come at the end, the order is Manner → Place → Time. (She sang beautifully in the town hall last night = M P T.)

With a verb of movement (go, come, send, reach, throw), the adverb of place comes first — the order becomes PMT (We reached home safely yesterday = P M T).

E. Comparison of Adverbs

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
cleverly / slowly (-ly adverbs)	more cleverly / more slowly	most cleverly / most slowly
fast / hard / early (same as adjective)	faster / harder / earlier	fastest / hardest / earliest
well / badly / far (irregular)	better / worse / farther	best / worst / farthest

F. Some Tricky Adverbs

yet → in negatives/questions, at the end (They haven't come yet).
still → something going on longer than expected (Are you still working?).
already → ‘before now’, in affirmatives/questions (He has already eaten).
no longer / any longer / any more → something has ended (I no longer live there).
focus adverbs (only, even, just) → they focus on the word right after them.
enough → comes after the adjective/adverb it modifies (smart enough, quickly enough).
negative adverbs (never, seldom, hardly, rarely) at the front → the sentence becomes a question form (Never did he obey).

💡 Quick Recap

① Adverbs tell how/when/where/how often. ② Most manner adverbs end in -ly; some (fast, hard) are the same as the adjective. ③ Positions: front, middle, end. ④ End-order = Manner → Place → Time (PMT for movement verbs). ⑤ ‘enough’ goes after its word; a negative adverb at the front turns the sentence into a question form.

Solved Textbook Activities (with answers)

1Activity 1 — Underline the adverb and name its kind.

1. We looked carefully at the man. — manner 2. Suddenly we heard a noise. — manner (sentence/time) 3. She spoke in a friendly way. — manner (adverbial) 4. They worked really hard. — really (degree), hard (manner) 5. We played till evening. — time 6. They are quite tired. — degree 7. I have never seen him earlier. — never (frequency), earlier (time) 8. Luckily we won the match. — sentence adverb 9. Sometimes they are irregular. — frequency 10. We reached home early yesterday. — home (place), early & yesterday (time)

2Activity 2 — Change the word in brackets into an adverb.

1. We did the sum quickly. 2. Meera danced fairly well. 3. We waited there patiently. 4. Luckily we escaped unhurt. 5. She is probably a dancer. 6. It is terribly cold here. 7. He certainly looks better today. 8. The baby slept quietly. 9. I am fully satisfied with you. 10. Walk on the road carefully.

3Activity 3 — Choose the adjective or the adverb from the pair.

1. This work is very easy. We finished it easily. 2. Mama drew a beautiful picture. 3. The children were happy. They played happily. 4. I met him unexpectedly. My meeting with the man was quite unexpected. 5. The old woman was weeping sadly. She looked very sad. 6. I am working very hard.

4Activity 4 — Choose from the pairs (late/lately, hard/hardly, short/shortly, high/highly, free/freely).

1. We reached school very late. 2. They worked hard to finish the work in time. 3. The meeting will be held shortly. 4. Birds can fly very high. 5. The poor man got the food free.

5Activity 5 — Say whether the italicized word is an adverb or an adjective.

1. His house is very near. → adjective (after ‘is’) 2. Our examination is drawing near. → adverb (modifies ‘drawing’) 3. We were driving along a very wide road. → adjective (describes ‘road’) 4. Open your mouth wide. → adverb (modifies ‘open’) 5. He looks better today. → adjective (after ‘looks’) 6. Pranati can sing better. → adverb (modifies ‘sing’)

6Activity 6 — Put the adverb in brackets in its right place.

1. He would certainly help me. 2. Have you ever been to Rourkela? 3. Tipu is usually late for school. 4. She can paint extremely well. 5. My tooth is really aching. 6. These people are always quarrelling. 7. We had a lovely holiday last week. 8. I have just finished the work. 9. We crossed the river safely. 10. Unfortunately, he died young.

7Activity 7 — Put the adverbs in their right order (MPT).

1. Govinda has been waiting patiently for an hour. 2. I went there quickly. 3. She ran quickly into the room. 4. Ramesh spoke nervously in the meeting this morning. 5. Father called me angrily into his room. 6. It rained heavily at 6 o'clock in the evening. 7. Leela rested peacefully in her bed until evening. 8. I saw her accidentally in a shop in Cuttack. 9. The car turned left towards the school. 10. Why was the child crying so loudly in the garden a while ago?

8Activity 8 — Put the adverbs in order and fill the blanks.

1. Usually I like to go home by four o'clock. 2. I always work much faster in the morning. 3. He seldom behaves so carelessly at work. 4. Normally we go to school at 10 o'clock every day. 5. She occasionally comes to my house these days.

9Activity 9 — Rewrite putting the italicized adverb at the beginning.

1. Rarely does my friend visit movies. (done) 2. Seldom does he write to me. 3. Only then did I understand what he meant. 4. Nowhere could they find a better instructor. 5. Only today did I hear about this dreadful news. 6. No sooner did my wife get home than it rained.