The Adverb

1. Generalities

The adverb is a part of speech, words of which denote circumstances or characteristics attending or modifying actions, states or qualities. Respectively adverbs are semantically divided into circumstantial ( situational) & qualitative.

Circumstantial adverbs are those of

1. time & frequency : today, yesterday, tomorrow, since, nowadays, often, seldom, sometimes, rarely and others.

2. place & direction: here, there, abroad, (at) home, ashore et al.

Qualitative adverbs are those of

1. manner: quickly, carefully, aloud, well, badly, poorly et al.

2. Degree: very, greatly, quite, rather, obviously et al.

Like qualitative adjectives, qualitative adverbs have the grammatical category of comparison. They are inflected for the degrees of comparison, which are positive, comparative and superlative. They are built up in the same way as those of adjective:

• synthetically: fast-faster-fastest; hard-harder-hardest; quickly-quicker-quickest;

NOTE: OF ALL English adverbs with the suffix –ly only ‘early’ retains this suffix in the synthetic forms of comparison:

early-earlier-earliest;

• analytically: deeply-more deeply-most deeply; wisely-more wisely-most wisely.

The adverb ‘often’ occurs in both synthetic and analytical forms of comparison: often-oftener \ more often-oftenest \most often.

Besides, there is a small group of adverbs having suppletive forms of comparison:

Well-better-best; little-less-least;

Badly-worse-worst; much-more-most;

NOTE: the forms of comparison of the adverb ‘far’: far-farther\further-farthest\furthest.

They are used in the same way that the corresponding adjectives are used: both ‘farther\farthest’ & ‘further\furthest’ when speaking about places, directions or distance and ‘further\furthest’ are used in the meaning ‘more, later’: Don’t try my patience any further.

2. The usage of adverbs without the suffix –ly in contrast with that of adverbs with it.

In principle the general rule of the use of both types of adverbs was worded by M.Ganshina and N.Vasilevskaya (see above). This rule can be somewhat specified: adverbs without the suffix –ly are used in direct meanings, also in figurative meanings if the connection between these kinds of meaning is not lost completely.

1. Close – closely

Both adverbs are used in the direct (‘very near’) and figurative (‘intently, carefully’) meanings, but the direct meaning is typical of ‘close’ and figurative of ‘closely’, cf.:

Direct meaning

CLOSE	CLOSELY
Her face was close to the window pane. (Galsworthy); He held me close. (Lee).	…the trees that closely hemmed the river’s edge changed species. (Caillou).

Figurative meaning

Stay close together. (Longman); close to 90 years ago (Ib.)

(with the verbs ‘examine, look, question, study, watch’ and the like) I looked closely at the photo.(Boyd); She studied Michael closely…(Puzo). I turned back to Faye, watching closely. (Boyd).