Adverbs are one of the four major word classes, along with nouns, verbs and adjectives. We use adverbs to add more information about a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a clause or a whole sentence and, less commonly, about a noun phrase.

Can you move it carefully? It’s fragile.

Quickly! We’re late.

She swims really well.

Don’t go so fast.

You have to turn it clockwise.

Come over here.

Actually, I don’t know her.

I haven’t seen them recently.

The bathroom’s upstairs on the left.

Adverbs have many different meanings and functions. They are especially important for indicating the time, manner, place, degree and frequency of something.
time

I never get up early at the weekends.

manner

Walk across the road carefully!

place

When we got there, the tickets had sold out.

degree

It’s rather cold, isn’t it?

frequency

I’m always losing my keys.

Time, place and manner adverbs (early, there, slowly)
Time adverbs
Time adverbs tell us about when something happens.

already

lately

still

tomorrow

early

now

soon

yesterday

finally

recently

today

yet

Have you seen Laurie today?

I’d prefer to leave early.

I went to the cinema on my own recently.

There’s been an increase in house burglary lately.
Degree adverbs (slightly) and focusing adverbs (generally)
Degree and focusing adverbs are the most common types of modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs. Degree adverbs express degrees of qualities, properties, states, conditions and relations. Focusing adverbs point to something.

Degree adverbs
absolutely

enough

perfectly

somewhat

a (little) bit

entirely

pretty

terribly

a lot

extremely

quite

too

almost

fairly

rather

totally

awfully

highly

remarkably

utterly

completely

lots

slightly

very

Manner adverbs
Manner adverbs tell us about the way something happens or is done.

accurately

beautifully

expertly

professionally

anxiously

carefully

greedily

quickly

badly

cautiously

loudly

quietly