Adverbials

Adverbials are words that we use to give more information about a verb. They can be one word (angrily, here) or phrases (at home, in a few hours) and often say how, where, when or how often something happens or is done, though they can also have other uses.

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how adverbials are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.

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Hello! I'd like to clarify the difference between the phrases, "in school" and "at school", and when they appropriately used. Thank you very much!

Hello Timmy,

I think the main difference is that in school is more common in US English, while at school is preferred in most contexts in UK English.

In terms of meaning/use, I think in UK English in school tends to mean that a person attends school (i.e. is a pupil), while at school tends to mean that the person is physically there:

My children are still in school. [= they have not graduated yet]

My children are still at achool. [they have not come home yet]

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much! This is really helpful!

It's really helpful.

Hello, I would like to ask the following 1.Can we use the : short of in order to say up to a point. For example Question : Did you understand what I said? Answer :Short of(up to point?, a little rtc) Thank you in advance

Hello Nagie23

Yes, though please note that it's 'sort of' (or 'kind of'), not 'short of'.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Can "more than"/less than/as good as etc. be used as phrasal adverbs in example sentences :- 1. He was more than(meaning very) deserving. 2. Less than 40 People were present(less than is modifying forty) 3. It is as good as(meaning almost) lost. Best regards

Hello Bharati,

Yes, all of those sentences are fine, though very prescriptive grammarians might insist on Fewer than 40 rather than less than 40 to avoid using less with a countable noun. To be honest, though, it is very common to use less in this way, especially in modern English.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Peter, Thanks for your guidance. May i ask if phrases like "let alone/not to mention/much less/what to talk of"etc are also used as adverbials modifying the residual part of the sentence in sentence like "He was incapable of leading a bowling team, let alone/much less/what to talk of/not to mention a country" Best regards

Hello Bharati,

Phrases like these, and similar ones such as never mind and still less, are conjunctions.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter, Thanks for your reply. May i ask if the above phrases will qualify as co-ordinate conjunction though no grammar book has a mention of them as Conjunction. Best regards

Hello Bharati,

Yes, I would say so. If you look the phrases up in a good dictionary then you'll see that they are classified as conjunctions:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/still%20less

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/never%20mind

There are so many conjunctions in English when phrases are included that it's well nigh impossible to list them all. Most grammar books for learners simplify the list of coordinating conjunctions to the most common and useful seven, using the acronym FANBOYS. There are, however, many more.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

I have a question What does the phrase between brackets describe?Carriages used to be drawn( by horses.) * 1. used to 2. carriages 3 drawn

Hello tareq

'by horses' is the agent of the passive verb 'used to be drawn'. Another way of saying this is 'In the past, horses drew carriages.'

I'm afraid that none of three options you list explains the meaning of 'by horses'.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. I've got a question. Could someone tell me which sentence is better? I went to London with my parents. I went with my parents to London. Thank you very much, Kind regards, Alice Pirsoul

Hello Alice,

The normal word order here is the first one. We usually say where to before who with. It's not grammatically wrong to say it in a different order, but it is not the normal way and not how we would phrase it.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Peter, Is phrase "more than " in the following sentences used as adverb of degree. He was more than(meaning very)pleased. More than 40 people were present. I can't find any other explanation. Thanks

Could you confirm to me if the next grammar rule is true?: If the main verb has an auxiliar, the adverb goes after auxiliar and before main verb, for instance: "I have only been there once". Thanks.

Hello inaki

It's true that adverbs of frequency tend to come before the main verb (in this case, 'been'), but I'm afraid that adverbs can go in many different positions. You can read more about this on the Where adverbials go in a sentence page in this section, as well as this Cambridge Dictionary page.

Hope this helps.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Sir, Thanks for the above details. reference to the description as you mentioned above It might say that " An Adverbial might be a preposition or verb or Noun or any pronoun?

Hello Imran 26

I wouldn't say it that way, because it sounds as if, for example, nouns are adverbials by themselves, which is not true. An adverbial can include a noun (e.g. in a prepositional phrase), but that's a different story.

I'm not sure if I've answered your question. Please feel free to ask again if not.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Are discourse markers, sentence connectors and conjunctive adverbs the same thing called differently by grammarians. If yes, what do they modify? The complete clause following the discourse marker since conjunctive adverbs modify the entire clause to which it is attached(sentence adverbs) . Thanks

Hi Sir, I wanna know that what is the difference between ADVERBS and ADVERBIALS ?

Hi Imran 26,

An adverb is a kind of word. An adverbial is any word, phrase or clause which functions as an adverb in the sentence. Thus, adverbial is a bigger category which contains adverbs as well as other things.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, Although by definition, adverb doesn't modify Pronoun,Noun Clause, prepositional phrases etc but their usage pattern in many sentences suggest that adverbs indeed modify the above. Why grammarians differ on this ? My second question is:- Are discourse markers, sentence connectors and conjunctive adverbs the same thing called differently by grammarians. If yes, what do they modify? The complete clause following the discourse marker since conjunctive adverbs modify the entire clause to which it is attached(sentence adverbs) . Thanks

Adverb phrase vs Adverbial phrase! I have studied that all ADVERB PHRASES are also know as ADVERBIAL PHRASES. Can all ADVERBIAL PHRASES also be called ADVERB PHRASES? For instance: Rick writes beautifully. (Here "carefully" can also be called an "ADVERB or ADVERBIAL.") Rick writes very beautifully. (Here "very beautifully" can also be called an "ADVERB phrase or ADVERBIAL phrase.") Rick writes in a beautiful manner. (Here "in a beautiful manner" can only be called "ADVERBIAL PHRASE".") Can "in a beautiful manner" also be called "ADVERB PHRASE"? Adverb is a single word and an adverb phrase is two or more adverbs together. However, an adverbial phrase is a more informative group of words that will contain other words apart from adverbs and may or may not actually contain an adverb. I have confusion about Adverb phrase and Adverbial phrase!

Hello Nehashri

It sounds to me as if you do understand this, but I'll explain it briefly in case that helps.

An adverb is a single word (e.g. 'quickly'). An adverb phrase can be simply an adverb (e.g. 'quickly') or an adverb plus other words (e.g. 'very quickly', which is two adverbs, the main one being 'quickly').

An adverbial phrase functions as an adverb, but does not necessarily contain an adverb. Prepositional phrases (e.g. 'in two years'), for example, often function as adverbs: 'I will graduate in two years'. Note that there is no adverb in this adverbial phrase.

In this grammar, adverbs and adverb phrases are also referred to as 'adverbials' -- the term 'adverbial' is used for any word or phrase that has an adverbial function in a sentence.

Hope that clears it up for you.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello sir, good evening! How are you? I hope everyone's fine. I just would like to ask what is the explanation of adverbs of quantity (with count nouns : too much, fewer, more and n't enough) and what about noncount nouns: too much, less, more and isn't enough) I don't understand them how to use them. Regards! Lavern

Hello Lavern,

We actually have a page devoted to the topic of quantifiers. I think you'll find it useful. It also has some exercises so you can test yourself on the topic. You can find the page here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/quantifiers

We can't give detailed general explanations of language items in the comments sections of the pages but if you have any specific questions we'll be happy to answer them. Including an example to illustrate your question is helpful too.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

I needa bit of help please?

Hello DanyalParacha

What do you need help with?

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

An adverb is a single word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb: I sing badly. (Badly is an adverb that modifies the verb sing) I sing really badly. (Badly is still an adverb, but now really is as well, modifying the adverb badly) My voice is incredibly awful. (Incredibly is an adverb, modifying the adjective awful). An adverbial is when a group of words does the job of an adverb. That group of words can contain nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, or whatever, and can be as complex as you want. Am I right?

Hello quds001

Well done, that's a great (and correct) summary!

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I would like to ask if the following is correct When there is a house that also has a garden can we say 1.It is a house with a big garden around it. Around it, suits well in the sentence? Thank you in advance

Hello agie,

That is fine, yes.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I would like to ask if the following are correct. 1.They will help you learn fast ot they will help you learning fast? (maths, French etc) 2.They will help you learn quickly? 3.It is the top part of the story. (does this sentence make sense? Is it correct?) Thank you in advance

Hello agie,

You can say 'help you learn' or 'help you to learn'. There is no difference in meaning.

'~~Help you learning~~' is not correct. You could say 'help you with your learning'.

We wouldn't say 'the top part of the story'. I'm not sure what you mean, but perhaps we would say 'the first part of the story' or 'the first paragraph of the story', or 'the beginning of the story'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

We were taught at school that 'every day' is a noun phrase which functions adverbially in a sentence but many grammar books say it is an adverbial phrase. I wanted to know what kind of phrase it is -- noun phrase or adverbial phrase.

Hello Prap

It can be both. A noun phrase can be used adverbially -- this is another way of saying that the noun phrase functions as an adverb in a sentence (in this case, for example, it can tell you more about the frequency of an action) -- and in that sense it is also an adverbial phrase.

I hope that helps you make sense of it.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Some teachers say, "You're doing good" instead of "You're doing well". I'm wondering if both are acceptable? σ┃･ω･`*┃

Hello Rafaela1

Strictly speaking, 'well' is the correct form here, but people often use 'good' instead of 'well' in informal speech in a sentence like this.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

I've got a fight left in me. Please analyse this sentence for me. Thank you in advance.

Hello Bonne,

I'm not sure what you mean by 'analyse' here. Is this a sentence which you've written and would like to know if it is correct, or a sentence you have found somewhere and which you don't understand?

If the sentence is yours, then we would need to know what you want to say in order to tell you if the sentence is OK or not. If the sentence is from somewhere else, then we would need to know the context before we comment on it.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi ! I am confused about the part of speech "much" belongs to. "I didn't do much ." What is "much" here? Is it an adverbial qualifying 'do' or an object being indefinite pronoun?

Hello Kisa Batool, The sentence can be interpreted in several ways but I would say that 'much' here is a pronoun which is the object of the verb 'do'. You can see a similar example on this page under 'pronoun, noun': https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/much ~ Peter The LearnEnglish Team

I'm not quite sure the difference between these two sentences. He spoke angrily. He angrily spoke. Can somebody teache me? ʅ(´-ω-`)ʃ

Hi Rafaela1 Adverbials of manner like 'angrily' (https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar/adverbials-manner) almost always come after the verb and not before. Putting one before the verb is not exactly wrong, but it's so unusual that it would sound strange for you to use it in a normal situation. If you were writing a poem -- you've shared many very nice poems here on LearnEnglish and we are grateful! -- then it could be appropriate, but otherwise I'd recommend you use the first word order. All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hello. computers brought people closer together. computers brought people together closer. which one is correct? part of speech together?

Hello amirfd The first one is correct. The words 'closer', the comparative form of the adjective 'close', and the adverb 'together' are collocates here -- see number 5 on https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/together . All the best Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hi Is it okay to say "They are ill from yesterday" to mean "They have been ill since yesterday"? What are the differential usages of 'for' in this particular sense? Regards