Adverbs

Adverbs modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

An adverb tells more about a verb in the sentence.

• The fire engine runs fast.
• Listen to his speech carefully.
• I browse the web frequently.
• It rained hard.

An adverb describes more about an adjective in the sentence.

• The news is very surprising!
• The coffee is extremely hot, so be careful.
• Nature is really amazing!

An adverb modifies another adverb in the sentence.

• It rains very hard.
• Computers run much faster these days.
• I clean my room less frequently because I am busy.

Commonly, adjectives can be changed to adverbs by adding 'ly'.

• slow – slowly
• quick – quickly
• comfortable – comfortably
• loud – loudly
• clear – clearly

To change adjectives ending in 'y' into adverbs, change the 'y' to 'i' and add 'ly'.

• happy – happily
• easy – easily

[Quiz 9.1]

Choose the correct word form in the following sentences.

1) I spoke to you (careful, carefully) last time.
2) We talked about it (clear, clearly).
3) I sat on the (comfortable, comfortably) sofa.
4) My dog runs very (fast, faster).
5) Let’s install the new program (quick, quickly).

Simple Tense

Verb tense tells you when the action happens. There are three main verb tenses: present, past, and future. Each main tense is divided into simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive tenses.

 

	Simple	Progressive	Perfect	Perfect Progressive
Present	finish	am/is/are finishing	have/has finished	have/has been finishing
Past	finished	was/were finishing	had finished	had been finishing
Future	will finish	will be finishing	will have finished	will have been finishing

 

Things to remember about simple tense:

a. Present tense is the original verb form.
b. Past tense has a few patterns.
c. Future tense needs will (shall) + verb.

Run

• I run a marathon twice a year. (present)
• I ran a marathon last year. (past)
• I will run a marathon next year. (future)

Eat

• I eat lunch in my office.
• I ate lunch an hour ago.
• I will eat lunch in one hour.

See

• I see a movie once a week.
• I saw a movie yesterday.
• I will see a movie tomorrow.

Know

• I know it.
• I knew it the day before yesterday.
• I will know it by tomorrow.

Learn

• I learn English.
• I learned English the last two years.
• I will learn English next year.

Cook

• I cook my supper every night.
• I cooked our dinner already.
• I will cook breakfast tomorrow.

[Quiz 10.1]

Fill in the blanks with appropriate verb forms.

1) I a song at the concert yesterday.
2) He a letter to his girlfriend tomorrow.
3) I to the library to borrow some books this weekend.

Progressive and Perfect Tense