3.10.1

Adverbial

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Adverbials

Adverbials include adverbs AND phrases that act like adverbs.

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Adverbs

  • Adverbs are words that change a verb.
    • E.g. Running slowly - 'slowly' is an adverb because it describes how fast the running is.
  • Adverbs can also change an adjective.
    • E.g. 'really big house' - really' is an adverb because it changed the adjective 'big'.
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Adverbs as adverbials

  • Adverbs are a type of adverbial.
  • Adverbials tell us information about ‘where, when, why or how’ something happened.
    • E.g. 'Suddenly, he jumped for joy' - the adverb 'suddenly' gives more information about the verb ‘jumped’.
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Phrases as adverbials

  • E.g. 'Needing to release his joy, he jumped into the sky.'
    • 'Needing to release his joy' adds more information to the verb 'jumped'.
    • 'Needing to release his joy' tells us why the jumping happened.
    • 'Needing to release his joy' is an adverbial.
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Punctuating adverbials

  • A fronted adverbial is an adverbial at the front of a sentence.
  • Fronted adverbials are always followed by a comma.
    • E.g. 'As the light went out, he burst through the door.'
    • 'As the light went out' is a fronted adverbial.

Jump to other topics

1Spelling

2Punctuation

3Grammar

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