Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs,adjectives,and other adverbs:

Ex.
She agreed readily.(The adverb readily modifies the verb agreed.)
My mother was really happy.(The adverb really modifies the adjective happy.)
My daughter is completely fearless.(The adverb completely modifies the adjective fearless.)

Adverb may also modify entire clauses:

Ex.
Obviously he is wrong, but I will hear him out.(The adverb Obviously modifies the clause he is wrong.)
Surely the plane will be late,but I will not count on it. (The adverb Surely modifies the clause the plane will be late.)

Adverb may also modify all the rest of a sentence:

Ex.
Perhaps you are the only person in the class who knows the answer to mu question.
Certainly she will find that other attorneys in her department have also been harassed.

Recognizing Adverbs
The adverbs easiest to recognize are those that end in -ly. The only pitfall to avoid is confusing adbverbs tha end in -ly with adjectives that end in -ly.

Remember that adjectives modify nouns and pronouns and that adverbs modify everything else. Thus, when you wish to determine whether you are dealing with an adverb or an adjective,identify the element modified. If it is a noun or pronoun, the modifier is an adjective. If the element modified is any other part of speech, the modifiers is an adverb.(This subject is dealt with further in the next two sections.)

The modifiers in the following sentences are adverbs:

Ex.
She stared hatefully.(The adverb hatefully modifies the verb stared.)

He will be supremely happy when the verdict is announced.((The adverb supremely modifies the adjective happy.)

Eventually they will reach an agreement,but I do not know when.((The adverb Eventually modifies the clause the will reach an agreement.)

Differentiating Adverbs from Adjectives
Many English words function both as adjectives adverbs. As has already been said, the surest way for you to tell whether a word is an adjective or an adverb is to examine the sentence in which it appears and determine what the function of the word is. For this, you must go back to the fundamental distinction between an adjective and an adverb: Adjective modify nouns and pronouns; adverbs modify everything else.

The following list presents some of the words that are used both as adjectives and adverbs:

bad..............early...............hard..............much...............slow
better...........enough...........high..............near...............smooth
bright...........even................late..............quick..............straight
cheap............fair................little.............right...............tight
close.............far.................loose.............rough..............well
deep..............fast................loud..............second.............worse
doubtless........first...............low...............sharp..............wrong

Many of these words also have forms ending in -ly, among them: badly, brightly, cheaply, deeply, and others. Some people prefer the -ly forms in formal writing, and the -ly forms in many instances are used exclusively in certain idiomatic construction:

Ex.
The bullet hit close to the mark.
Watch them closely.
The team plays hard all the time.
The violinist could hardly flex his fingers.

In both these pairs of sentences, the modifiers close, closely, hard, and hardly perform adverbial functions. Close modifies the verb hit; closely modifies the verb watch. Hard modifies the verb plays; hardly modifies the verb flex. Thus, they are all adverbs.

By way of contrast, consider how close and hard function as adjectives in the following sentences.

Ex.
The work is so close that it strains my eyes.
I think hard times are still ahead of us.

Comparison of Adverbs
Like adjectives, adverbs have three comparative forms-absolute, comparative, and superlative-to indicate greater or lesser degrees of the characteristics described.
Adverbs that are identical with adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in the same manner, for example, bad, worse, worst; well, better, best, etc. Even when the absolute form of an adverb ends in -ly, the comparative and superlative are identical with the corresponding forms of the adjective: badly, worse, worst.

Adverbs also add er and est to the absolute form to make their comparatives and superlatives:

Ex.
sad, sadder, saddest
sadly, sadder, saddest

Adverbs also employ more and most before the absolute form to make comparatives and superlatives. More and most are commonly used with adverbs of more than one syllable:

Ex.
privately, more privately, most privately
happily, more happily, most happily