Welcome back, potion makers of language!
In Lesson 34, we added clock charms to our sentences with adverbs of time. In Lesson 35, we added compass charms with adverbs of place. Now we add a new ingredient: the adverb of manner.
Adverbs of manner tell the reader how an action happens or in what way someone does something. They do not simply move the action through time or space; they alter the action itself.
Compare:
- The apprentice stirred the potion.
- The apprentice stirred the potion carefully.
- The apprentice stirred the potion frantically.
- The apprentice stirred the potion cheerfully.
The action is the same: “stirred.” But each adverb changes the way we imagine the action. One apprentice stirs cautiously, one stirs frantically, and one apparently enjoys stirring a potion.
Adverbs of manner alter the way a verb is performed.
Review: What Adverbs Do
Adverbs modify or alter the meaning of verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and sometimes entire clauses.
Adverbs often answer these questions:
- Where?
- When?
- How?
- Why?
- To what extent?
In this lesson, we focus on adverbs of manner, which usually answer How? or In what way?
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens, how someone does something, or the way an action is performed. Adverbs of manner typically modify verbs or adjectives.
They usually answer:
- How?
- In what manner?
- In what way?
Many adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives by adding -ly.
Examples:
- careful → carefully
- brave → bravely
- quiet → quietly
- cheerful → cheerfully
- awkward → awkwardly
Examples:
- Gabby skips gladly.
- The knight fought bravely.
- The student answered quietly.
- The wizard mixed the potion carefully.
- The dragon landed awkwardly.
Reference Note: In Lesson 34, we reviewed spelling rules for forming many regular -ly adverbs from adjectives.
Some common adverbs of manner do not end in -ly.
Examples:
- fast
- hard
- well
- straight
- late
Examples:
- The horse ran fast.
- She worked hard.
- He performed well.
- The arrow flew straight.
Potion Warning: Do not add -ly to every adverb. “Fastly” is not standard English. Say fast.
Placement of Adverbs of Manner: When Modifying Verbs
1. After an Intransitive Verb
- Adverbs of manner usually come directly after intransitive verbs.
- Gabby skips gladly.
- The dragon landed awkwardly.
Structure: NP subject + VP → (Auxiliary Verbs) + Intransitive Verb + (Adverb)
2. After a Transitive Verb and Its Object
- The adverb of manner comes after the transitive verbs’ complements.
- I am driving the car cautiously.
3. Before the Main Verb for Emphasis or Style
- An adverb of manner may also appear before the main verb (transitive or intransitive verbs), especially for emphasis, rhythm, or stylistic preference.
- Mark cautiously drives the car.
- The apprentice carefully measured the herbs.
- The dragon awkwardly landed.
- When there is an auxiliary verb, the adverb often appears after the auxiliary and before the main verb.
- She is carefully stirring the potion.
- They will quietly leave the castle.
Structure: NP subject + VP → (Auxiliary Verbs) + (Adverb) + Verb + (Verb Complements)
4. Introductory Position for Emphasis
- For emphasis, an adverb of manner may appear at the beginning of the sentence. It is often followed by a comma.
- Introductory placement often makes the manner feel important before the reader reaches the action.
- Carefully, she carried the potion across the room.
- Slowly, the dragon lowered its head.
Structure: (Adverb), NP subject + VP → (Auxiliary Verbs) + Verb + (Verb Complements)
When other adverbial phrases are present, such as prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases, or participle phrases, the placement of manner adverbs can shift for clarity, rhythm, or emphasis. Lesson 53 contains a detailed chart showing how different adverbial phrases interact with each other.
Placement of Adverbs of Manner: When Modifying Adjectives or Participles
- Some -ly adverbs can appear before adjectives or participles. However, when they do this, they are not always functioning as simple adverbs of manner. They may describe the quality, degree, or manner of an adjective or participle.
- The poorly written spell confused the apprentice.
- The surprisingly small dragon slept in the basket.
- The remarkably brave child faced the monster.
Structure: NP → (DP Determiner Phrase) + [AP Adjective Phrase → (Adverb) + Adjective/ Participle) + (Noun Adjunct) + Noun
Potion Note: For now, when a participle appears before a noun and describes that noun, treat it like part of the adjective phrase. Later, when we study participle phrases more deeply, we will learn when participles grow into larger phrase structures.
A more advanced noun phrase structure may look like this:
Structure: NP → (DP Determiner Phrase) + [AP Adjective Phrase → (Adverb) + Adjective] + [Participle Phrase → (Adverb) + Participle] + (Noun Adjunct) + Noun
Reference Note: In Lesson 24, we introduced participles in compound adjectives. Later lessons will explore participles and participle phrases more deeply.
Common Adverbs of Manner
| Positive or Careful Manner | Strong or Brave Manner | Troubled or Awkward Manner | Other Common Manner Adverbs |
| beautifully | boldly | angrily | accidentally |
| carefully | bravely | anxiously | badly |
| cheerfully | daringly | awkwardly | blindly |
| elegantly | eagerly | carelessly | exactly |
| gladly | faithfully | cruelly | fast |
| joyfully/ joyously | frankly | foolishly | hard |
| quietly | honestly | frantically | poorly |
| softly | patiently | hungrily | well |
| smoothly | proudly | noisily | straight |
Note: Some adverbs in this chart may shift categories depending on their sentence position and meaning.
Multiple Adverbs
Adverbs of manner, place, frequency, time, and purpose can appear together in the same sentence.
A common order is:
1. Adverbs of Manner—How?
2. Adverbs of Place—Where?
3. Adverbs of Frequency—How often?
4. Adverbs of Time—When?
5. Adverbs of Purpose—Why?
Example: The apprentice worked carefully downstairs every morning.
However, this order is not absolute. Writers may move adverbs for emphasis, rhythm, or clarity.
Examples:
- The apprentice carefully worked downstairs every morning.
- Every morning, the apprentice worked carefully downstairs.
- Downstairs, the apprentice carefully worked before breakfast.
Each version changes the emphasis slightly.
Reference Note: In Lesson 35, we studied adverbs of place. In Lesson 34, we studied adverbs of time. In Lesson 9, we studied adverbs of frequency.
Not Every -ly Word Is an Adverb
Some words end in -ly but are usually adjectives.
Examples:
- friendly
- lovely
- silly
- lonely
- lively
Examples:
- She is a friendly witch.
- The village held a lovely festival.
- The apprentice made a silly mistake.
These words describe nouns, so they function as adjectives.
Potion Note: The ending of a word gives clues, but the word’s job in the sentence reveals its true identity.
Adverbs That Change Category
Some adverbs can belong to different categories depending on how they are used.
“Frankly” as Adverb of Manner:
- She spoke frankly.
- “Frankly” tells how she spoke.
“Frankly” as Evaluative Adverb:
- Frankly, I disagree
- “Frankly” comments on the speaker’s attitude toward the whole statement.
“Exactly” as Adverb of Manner:
- Measure the powder exactly.
- “Exactly” tells how to measure.
“Exactly” as Adverb of Degree or Focusing:
- That is exactly right.
- “Exactly” emphasizes the adjective right.
Potion Note: The question is not only, “What word it this?” The deeper question is, “What job is this word doing in this sentence?”
Creative Writing: Choosing a Tense
When writing a story, choose one main time frame and stay consistent unless you have a clear reason to shift.
For example, many stories are written in the past time frame. A past-time story may use several past forms, such as simple past, past progressive, and past perfect, but the narration should not randomly jump into the present tense. A present-time story may use simple present, present progressive and present perfect.
Consistent past-time narration:
Mara opened the gate. She stepped quietly inside. The dragon was watching from the tower.
This version stays in the past time frame. The first two verbs use the simple past, and the third verb uses the past progressive to show an action already in progress.
Inconsistent narration:
Mara opened the gate. She steps quietly inside. The dragon was watching from the tower.
This version may confuse the reader because opened places the story in the past, but “steps” suddenly shifts into the present without a clear reason.
Potion Rule: Tense is the time spell of a story. Aspect shapes how the action unfolds inside that time. If the time spell changes accidentally, the reader may lose the path.
Boxing in Phrases
Place a green box around the adverb phrase.
Words of Wisdom
“Do not decide you are unable before persistence has had its chance.”