Can the Versatile Adverb Modify a Noun?
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Can the Versatile Adverb Modify a Noun?
Writers know that an adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. They likewise understand it can enhance an infinitive, a gerund, a participle, a phrase, a clause, a preposition, or the rest of the sentence in which it appears.
The question that remains is whether the agile adverb can modify a noun or a pronoun as well. Some observers say yes; others disagree.
Those in the “yea” will cite usage such as almost everybody went to the party and hardly anyone took the test as proving an adverb can augment a noun or a pronoun.
Those in the “nay” will point out that, by definition, a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun is an adjective; therefore, if an adverb is describing a noun or a pronoun, it qualifies as an adjective and needs to be categorized as such.
The Yeas will then counter with two points. First, they will refer to a sentence such as even these numbers are wrong sometimes. In this context, even is an adverbial modifier of the phrase these numbers.
Compare that usage with these even numbers are wrong sometimes. In this context, even is an adjectival modifier of numbers.
Second, the Yeas will refer to usage in which an adverb follows a noun to describe it, as in the opportunities here are endless. The word here, an adverb, modifies the preceding opportunities. Similar usage appears in let’s discuss this in the room upstairs.
The Yeas might add to their counterpoints with a sentence such as where are my keys? A purist beholden to definition might argue that where as an adverb modifies the verb, are. In turn, the Yea team could argue that where adverbially modifies the subject keys after the linking verb to be.
Further clouding the issue is that dictionaries vary in their classifications of certain words. For example, ninjawords.com and dictionary.com categorize ahead as an adverb only; merriam-webster.com includes it as both an adverb and an adjective. How then would we label it in the phrase the road ahead?
For the word forward, both dictionary.com and merriam-webster.com seemingly treat it as an adjective when it precedes a noun and an adverb when it follows one. Ninjawords.com likewise identifies forward as both an adverb and an adjective, although its stance on whether it can be an adverb for a noun is less clear.
Though leaving room for uncertainty, this possible accord on forward could unite the Yeas and Nays in allowing that the word adverbially describes a noun in a phrase such as from that moment forward. However, here again the Nays see an obvious opening: forward can also be interpreted as an adverb modifying a prepositional phrase.
In sum, the grammatical house remains divided over whether an adverb can modify a noun or a pronoun. Where disparity appears to erode the most is when the adverb follows the noun, as in the opportunities here and the room upstairs. Here we may someday see usage and classification become common enough to achieve consensus.
Until then, we’ll continue to watch and wait for when, where, and how majorities may or may not form on this issue as American English further evolves.
Pop Quiz
Applying the discussion and possible logic in this article, identify whether the emphasized word in the following sentences is an adverb or an adjective.
1. Oddly, the committee voted for the proposition even though it could lose money for the association.
a) adverb
b) adjective
2. You’ll find the box in the closet downstairs.
a) adverb
b) adjective
3) Most kids like to watch cartoons.
a) adverb
b) adjective
4) I want the truth straight. Tell me everything.
a) adverb
b) adjective
5) Do you see the fork in the road ahead?
a) adverb
b) adjective
Pop Quiz Answers
1. Oddly, the committee voted for the proposition even though it could lose money for the association.
a) adverb [“Oddly” modifies both the verb voted and the full sentence in which the adverb appears]
b) adjective
2. You’ll find the box in the closet downstairs.
a) adverb [“downstairs” here is used more to modify the closet’s location than the sentence’s verb, find]
b) adjective
3) Most kids like to watch cartoons.
a) adverb
b) adjective [while appearing to be a word that some might interpret as an adverb or an adjective, most in this context modifies the subject kids as an adjective meaning “greatest in size, extent, or quantity.”]
4) I want the truth straight. Tell me everything.
a) adverb
b) adjective [“straight” modifies truth in the context of “frank, candid”; the standard noun phrase would be straight truth; in this quiz question the adjective is emphasized by appearing after the noun]
5) Do you see the fork in the road ahead?
a) adverb [“ahead” here is used more to modify the fork’s (and the road’s) location than the sentence’s verb, see]
b) adjective
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
I would argue (as I’m sure many would) that “straight” tells me how I want it, thus modifying the verb.
Question:
In the sentence “I saw you steal the cookie,” what structure is “steal”?
We looked at straight in that sentence as an adjective expressing “without circumlocution; frank; candid.” But we can also see where you’re coming from. Part of the objective of this article was to express that grammar has nuance and is often not a black and white matter.
Steal is a verb in your sentence.
It seems to me that a useful tool might be to see whether “that is” can be inserted into the phrase/sentence in question without bollixing up the meaning.
1. You’ll find the box in the closet [that is] downstairs.
2. Do you see the fork in the road [that is] ahead?
In these cases, you can add “that is” without mishap, and oddly enough, these are listed by the quizmasters as adverbial use.
I haven’t applied this theory to other text and don’t yet know how widely it works, but I thought I’d throw it out there for consideration.
Thanks for an excellent newsletter!
Your observation that the noun phrases road ahead and closet downstairs include an omitted, understood relative pronoun phrase is an interesting one. It raises a valid question to consider about whether an adverb truly ever modifies a noun.
I enjoy reading grammarbook.com and always find it helpful.
I would like to suggest a topic for review. When starting a sentence such as “First, they will refer to a sentence …” followed by “Secondly, the Yeas will refer …” then we would continue with thirdly, fourthly, fifthly. Can you have a review of why and when we use “….ly” in a list? Can’t we just write first, second, third, fourth, etc.?
Thank you for pointing that out. We do have a preference for second, third, etc. over the adverb forms and have revised the blog post accordingly. However, the adverb forms are not necessarily wrong. We will consider expanding on this in a future article. In the meantime, please see our post Putting Out the Patrol for Made-Up Words for more information, as well as our June 16, 2018, response to Gigima in More Mangled Language and Pompous Usages to Avoid.
I vote for classifying a word by its function in any given sentence. If a word that usually functions as an adverb suddenly functions as an adjective, for me in that sentence that word is an adjective
Are you sure 5 in the pop quiz is an adverb? Seems to describe it as an adjective!
One way to view the word ahead in the quiz question is that it describes where the road or the fork is located, thus suggesting it functions as an adverb. However, another reader questioned whether this is just a matter of omitting a relative-pronoun phrase: i.e., “Do you see the fork in the road [that is] ahead?” In this context, ahead would be classified as an adjective that can describe either “fork” or “road.”
Complicating the issue is that some dictionaries seem to blur on categorization. For example, both dictionary.com and merriam-webster.com treat ahead as both an adverb and an adjective, and they include similar definitions for each. This keeps us in a gray area.
We are eager to see how other readers might view and respond to the subject. While still putting forth that ahead here performs as an adverb, we are open to the reasoning that it could be an adjective posing as an adverb.
A comment about adverbs modifying nouns:
Adverbs can modify noun phrases (as opposed to nouns), as in “He ate [almost the whole pie],” where the adverb “almost” modifies the NP “the whole pie.”
But there is a construction where we find an adverb modifying a noun, as in:
[1] Industrial action resulted in the withdrawal indefinitely of the vehicular ferry service.
[2] A shortage of timber internationally led to a steep rise in prices.
In [1] the adverb “indefinitely” modifies the noun “withdrawal” and in [2] the adverb “internationally” modifies the noun “shortage.”
Note though, that the adverbs are restricted to post-head position, and there are constraints on the kind of adverb permitted. Manner adverbs, for example, are normally excluded, so that we have “his angry reaction” but not *”his reaction angrily.”
Hope that helps.
The article contains examples of adverbs that could be considered to be modifying nouns or noun phrases. In your examples, constructions using adjectives would be less awkward:
Industrial action resulted in the indefinite withdrawal of the vehicular ferry service.
An international shortage of timber led to a steep rise in prices.
As an editor, I’ve had a real problem with client placement of adjectives for years. My favorites are “according to the provided data” and “answer in the provided box.”
I have a generic response: In English, the adjective typically precedes the noun (it is an attributive adjective; e.g., a “blue shirt” is a “shirt which is blue”). There are cases where the past participle of a verb is used as an adjective, and it then follows the noun (it is a predicative adjective; e.g., “the collected data” is used often, but is awkward/incorrect… “the data collected” implies “the data which was collected” and is far better– there is no compelling reason to use the awkward version.)
Thoughts?
We understand your observation; however, rules of English grammar do not dictate proper placement in these contexts. Rather, where to place the adjectival participle in particular phrases becomes a matter of writer preference and style. One could agree that in your examples having the adjective follow the noun has a better syllabic rhythm and sound to the ear. We might suggest the revision to the client, but we wouldn’t debate or justify it.
I don’t see what the fuss is all about. Words can act as different parts of speech (verbs and nouns, adverbs and adjectives, etc.).