Adjectives and adverbs are alike in that they both are used to describe things. The difference between the two is what they describe. Adjectives describe nouns, whereas adverbs describe verbs. The easiest way to tell adverbs from adjectives is by looking at the ending. Most adverbs will have a suffix of -ly, whereas most adjectives will not. This rule does not always apply for determining whether a word is an adverb or not. The only real way to figure it out is to determine whether the word is describing a noun or a verb. Some adverbs examples are words such as happily, lovingly, thoughtfully, and peacefully. In the sentence: “she happily ran down the road,” happily is an adverb because it is describing the verb, ran. In the sentence: “she was happy as she ran down the road,” happy is an adjective because happy is describing she.
The Internet can be a great place to find a list of adverbs that are commonly used. However, there are thousands of possible words that can be used as an adverb, so a list of adverbs may not be as helpful as learning to identify an adverb within a sentence.
Month: February 2011
Phrasal Verbs
English phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs that combine verbs and prepositions or adverbs to create new verbs with a separate meaning from the words individually. Phrasal verbs are used in every day life allow a level of flexibility to the English language where people can invent new verbs to create a new expression.
Phrasal verbs examples include words such as hit on, add up, knock out, and phase out. For the most part these words are used in informal speech or otherwise shorten an otherwise lengthy phrase. In the case of the sentence; “I hope I get over this cold quickly, I want to hang out with my friends,” the words “get over” and “hang out” are phrasal verbs. The phrases convey the meaning of this person’s desire to recover from a cold so he or she can do something with her or his friends.
A phrasal verb can be difficult in a sense as more often or not, it often won’t be found in a dictionary and the individual words which make up the phrasal verb are seldom is used in the same way. Phrasal verbs lists and phrasal verbs dictionary will allow a writer or speaker to locate or define the phrasal verb to convey the meaning that he or she wishes to express.
Pronouns
The pronoun substitutes for a noun or noun phrase to make communication easier. The noun replaced by the pronoun is called the antecedent. Some common examples are: I, you, he, it, they, me. The pronoun is a very common part of speech; using it correctly and clearly is important.
Subjective pronouns are used when the person or thing referred to is the subject of a sentence or clause. For example, in the sentence “I like ice cream,” the pronoun “I” is a subjective pronoun.
Objective pronouns are used when the person or thing referred to is the object of a sentence or clause. For example, in the command, “Call me tomorrow,” the pronoun “me” is an objective pronoun.
Possessive pronouns show possession, or who owns what. In the sentence “The comb is hers,” the pronoun “hers” is a possessive pronoun. Other examples include: mine, his, yours, theirs.
Indefinite pronouns refer to a nonspecific single or group of people and things. For example, in the sentence “Everyone loves Raymond,” the word “everyone” is an indefinite pronoun. Other indefinite pronouns include: somebody, anyone, nobody, either.
Reflective pronouns are used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same. For example, in the sentence “We blame ourselves,” the word “ourselves” is a reflective pronoun referring to the subjective pronoun “we”. Other reflective pronouns include: myself, herself, itself, themselves.
It can be confusing if there are too many pronouns in a sentence, so antecedents should always be clear. The pronoun is a great tool to avoid repetition and shorten lengthy sentences.