Adverbs are a versatile and essential part of speech in English that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire sentences.
They add detail to the action, providing information about
• how · when · where · to what extent something happens.
An adverbial can be an adverb:
He spoke angrily.
They live here.
We will be back soon.
or an adverb with an intensifier:
He spoke really angrily.
They live just here.
We will go quite soon.
or a prepositional phrase:
He spoke in an angry voice.
They live in London.
We will go in a few minutes.
or a noun phrase:
It rained this morning.
They went to Cambodia last summer.
or a clause:
They went to the mountains because they like to ski.
She played tennis when she was young.
Where Adverbials Go In a Sentence
We normally put adverbials after the verb:
He spoke angrily.
They live just here.
We will go in a few minutes.
If the verb has an object or complement we put the adverbial after the object or complement:
He opened the door quietly.
She left the money on the table.
We saw our friends last night.
You are looking tired tonight.
But adverbials of frequency how often usually come in front of the main verb:
We usually spent our holidays with our grandparents.
I have never seen William at work.
If we want to emphasise an adverbial, we can put it at the beginning of a clause:
Last night we saw our friends.
In a few minutes we will go.
Very quietly he opened the door.
If we want to emphasise an adverb of manner, we can put it in front of the main verb:
He quietly opened the door.
She had carefully put the glass on the shelf.