Collins Cobuild English Grammar (122 page)

changing word order after adverbials

6.15
    When clauses begin with an adverbial, the normal order of subject and verb is sometimes changed. For example, after adverbials of place, the verb usually comes before the subject. For more information about adverbials of place, see the section beginning at paragraph
6.53
.

Next to it
stood a pile of paper cups.
Beyond them
lay the fields.

This also happens when
broad negative
adverbs such as
hardly
and
barely
, and some other
negative words
are placed at the beginning of the clause. For more information about these, see paragraphs
5.47
to
5.91
.

Never
in history had technology made such spectacular advances.
Seldom
can there have been such a happy meeting.

Both of these cases are particularly common in written stories. A change in the normal order of subject and verb can occur after other adverbs, but only in poetry or old-fashioned English. The following example is from a Christmas carol written in 1843:

Brightly
shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel.

Adverbs

Types of adverb

6.16
    There are several types of adverb:

adverbs of time
,
frequency
, and
duration
, for example
soon
,
often
, and
always
. Because these are all related to time, they are dealt with fully in
Chapter 4
.

adverbs of place
, for example
around
,
downstairs
, and
underneath
. These are dealt with in the section on
place
beginning at paragraph
6.53
.

adverbs of manner
, for example
beautifully
,
carefully
, and
silently
. See the section beginning at paragraph
6.36
for more information about these.

adverbs of degree
, for example
almost
,
badly
,
terribly
, and
well
. See the section beginning at paragraph
6.45
for more information about these.

sentence connectors
, for example
consequently
,
furthermore
, and
however
. These are dealt with in paragraphs
10.48
to
10.56
.

sentence adverbs
, for example
alas
,
apparently
,
chiefly
, and
interestingly
. See the section beginning at paragraph
9.79
for more information on these.

broad negative adverbs
, for example
barely
,
hardly
,
rarely
,
scarcely
, and
seldom
. These are dealt with at paragraphs
5.80
to
5.87
.

focusing adverbs
, for example
especially
and
only
. These are dealt with in the section beginning at paragraph
9.64
.

Adverb forms and meanings related to adjectives

-ly
adverbs

6.17
    Many adverbs are related to adjectives. The main relationships and rules of formation are explained below.

Many adverbs are formed by adding
-ly
to an adjective. For example, the adverbs
quietly
and
badly
are formed by adding
-ly
to the adjectives
quiet
and
bad
.

Most of the adverbs formed in this way are
adverbs of manner
, so some people refer to adverbs of manner as
-ly
adverbs.

Sit there
quietly
, and listen to this music.
I didn’t play
badly
.
He reported
accurately
what they said.
He nodded and smiled
warmly
.

For more information about adjectives, see
Chapter 2
.

spelling

6.18
    Some
-ly
adverbs have slightly different spellings from the adjectives they are related to, for example
nastily
,
gently
,
terribly
,
academically
,
truly
, and
fully
. For information about these adverbs, see the Reference Section.

6.19
    Not all adverbs ending in
-ly
are adverbs of manner. Some are adverbs of degree, such as
extremely
and
slightly
: see the list at paragraph
6.45
.

I enjoyed the course
immensely
.
Sales fell
slightly
last month.

A few are adverbs of time, duration, or frequency, such as
presently
,
briefly
, and
weekly
: see the lists of these in
Chapter 4
.

At
10.15
a.m. soldiers
briefly
opened fire again.
These allegations are
currently
being investigated by my legal team.