English Grammar Drills

204 Verb Phrases
14. We had a good time everywhere we went.
15. They have lived there since they first moved to the city in the late eighties.
The use and meaning of adverbs
In the previous section we saw that there are three different forms of adverbs: single-word
adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses. All of these forms of adverbs are used to modify
verbs. Virtually all adverbs that modify verbs have a single point of origin in the sentence. They
are the final component of the verb phrase, following the verb and its complement as shown in
the following diagram:
Sentence
Subject Verb Verb (Optional
Noun Phrase Phrase Complement Adverbs)
Optional adverbs can be single-word adverbs, adverb prepositional phrases, adverb infinitive
phrases, or adverb clauses. For example:
Single-word adverb:
Adverb prepositional phrase:
Adverb infinitive phrase:
Adverb clause:
John met Mary recently
John met Mary on the weekend
John met Mary to borrow her computer
John met Mary when he was on campus
One of the defining characteristics of adverbs that modify verbs is that they are moveable.
All of the other grammatical components (including adverbs used as complements) are fixed in
place. Only adverbs that modify verbs can be shifted forward to other positions in the sentence.
For example:
Single-word adverb
Original:
Shifted:
Shifted:
John met Mary recently.
Recently John met Mary.
John recently met Mary.
Adverb prepositional phrase
Original:
John met Mary on the weekend.
Shifted:
On the weekend, John met Mary.