ADVERBS.
Adverbs modify.
279. The word adverb
means joined to a verb. The adverb is the only word that can join to a
verb to modify it.
A verb.
When action is expressed, an adverb is usually
added to define the action in some way,—time, place, or manner: as, "He
began already to be proud of being a Rugby boy [time];" "One of the
young heroes scrambled up behind [place];" "He was absolute, but
wisely and bravely ruling [manner]."
An adjective or an adverb.
But this does not mean that adverbs modify verbs
only: many of them express degree, and limit adjectives or
adverbs; as, "William's private life was severely pure;"
"Principles of English law are put down a little confusedly."
Sometimes a noun or
pronoun.
Sometimes an adverb may modify a noun or pronoun;
for example,—
The young man reveres men of genius, because, to speak
truly, they are more himself than he is.—Emerson.
Is it only poets, and men of leisure and
cultivation, who live with nature?—Id.
To the almost terror of the persons present,
Macaulay began with the senior wrangler of 1801-2-3-4, and so on.—Thackeray.
Nor was it altogether nothing.—Carlyle.
Sounds overflow the listener's brain So sweet that joy
is almost pain.—Shelley.
The condition of Kate is exactly that of
Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner."—De Quincey.
He was incidentally news dealer.—T. B. Aldrich.
NOTE.—These last differ from the words in Sec. 169,
being adverbs naturally and fitly, while those in Sec. 169 are
felt to be elliptical, and rather forced
into the service of adjectives.
Also these adverbs modifying nouns are to be distinguished
from those standing after a noun by ellipsis, but really modifying, not
the noun, but some verb understood; thus,—
The gentle winds and waters [that are] near, Make music
to the lonely ear.—Byron.
With bowering leaves [that grow] o'erhead, to
which the eye Looked up half sweetly, and half awfully.—Leigh Hunt.
A phrase.
An adverb may modify a phrase which is equivalent to an
adjective or an adverb, as shown in the sentences,—
They had begun to make their effort much at the same
time.—Trollope.
I draw forth the fruit, all wet and glossy, maybe
nibbled by rabbits and hollowed out by crickets, and perhaps with a
leaf or two cemented to it, but still with a rich bloom to it.—Thoreau.
A clause or sentence.
It may also modify a sentence, emphasizing or
qualifying the statement expressed; as, for example,—
And certainly no one ever entered upon office
with so few resources of power in the past.—Lowell.
Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of
heaven. —Irving.
We are offered six months' credit; and that,
perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it.—Franklin.
Definition.
280. An adverb,
then, is a modifying word, which may qualify an action word or a statement, and
may add to the meaning of an adjective or adverb, or a word group used as
such.
NOTE.—The
expression action word is put instead of verb, because any
verbal word may be limited by an adverb, not simply the forms used in
predication.
281. Adverbs may be
classified in two ways: (1) according to the meaning of the words; (2)
according to their use in the sentence. |
