Principles of Comparison of Adverbs | English Class 8 PDF Download

Adverbs like adjectives have degrees of comparison which are formed in the similar manner.

1. Adverbs of one syllable form their comparative and superlative by adding er and est respectively to the positive.

2.  Adverbs ending in -ly form their comparative and superlative by adding more and most respectively.

Note: The comparative and superlative degree of early are earlier and earliest.

3. There are some adverbs which form the degrees of comparison in an irregular way.

POSITION OF ADVERBS

The position of Adverbs is not fixed in a sentence. They vary from one sentence to another. However, they are not placed between a verb and its object.

• Adverbs are generally placed before an adjective or another adverb or after the intransitive verb.
  For example:
   (i) My mother is quite ready to accompany me.
   (ii) The girl is very beautiful.
   (iii) I am fairly well.
   (iv) It is raining heavily.

• Adverbs of frequency such as always, often, sometimes, etc. are placed after the verb, if the verb is are/am/was/were/will/shall/should/must, etc. But they are placed before the main verb.
  For example:
   (i) Jimmy is always punctual.
   (ii) Neha is often late to school.
   (iii) He always speaks the truth.
   (iv) They must follow the traffic rules.

• Adverbs of manner that qualify a transitive verb are usually placed after the object.
   For example:
   (i) She does her work smartly.
   (ii) The Principal delivered a speech nicely.
   (iii) He learnt the lesson sincerely.
   (iv) They paint the door carefully.
• Adverbs of time are usually placed after the verb if the verb is intransitive and after the object if the verb is transitive.
   For example:
   (i) The train arrived late.
   (ii) The gardener watered the plants yesterday.
• For emphasis, adverbs of time may also be placed at the beginning of the sentence.
   For example:
   (i) Tomorrow we will visit Agra.
   (ii) Yesterday my uncle came from London.
• The adverb enough is always placed after the word it modifies.
   For example:
   (i) I am wise enough to tackle the problem.
   (ii) The man was polite enough to please everyone.
• If a sentence has two or more than two adverbs after a verb, the normal order is – adverb of manner, adverb of place, adverb of time.
   For example:
   (i) She danced 
   (ii) The doctor reached 
• The word only is placd immediately before the word it modifies.
   For example:
   (i) He gave me only a doll. (a doll and nothing else)
   (ii) He gave only me a doll. (to me and to nobody else)
   (iii) Only he gave me a doll. (he and nobody else gave me)
   (iv) He only gave me a doll. (a doll and nothing more than that)