English Grammar Drills

194 Verb Phrases
The adverb then can be deleted without making the rest of the sentence ungrammatical:
We had dinner then.
Exercise 12.1
Underline the single-word adverbs in the following sentences. Confirm your identification by
deleting the adverb.
It always costs a fortune to eat at Gordy’s.
1. I usually don’t have that much trouble printing documents.
2. We went to Mexico City once.
3. I simply couldn’t understand what they were saying.
4. The audience suddenly became quiet.
5. We often see them on the weekends.
6. They knocked on the door again.
7. We have made our decision, too.
8. She really plays the piano well.
9. Perhaps we will see you at the conference.
10. I always take the bus to work.
11. Are we done already?
12. We probably can’t get to the meeting by ten.
13. Let’s arrange a meeting soon.
14. We always see them over the holidays.
15. My parents often discuss moving to a smaller place.
Ninety-five percent of adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding an -ly suffix. Here are
some examples:
Adjectives
abrupt
eager
first
Adverbs
abruptly
eagerly
firstly