Adverbial Examples: What They Are and How to Use Them
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Adverbial Examples: What They Are and How to Use Them
Are you familiar with adverbials? If you’re interested in knowing more about what they are and how they’re used, we can help you refine that part of your grammar.
In this discussion we’ll review adverbials and provide examples to reinforce your understanding. Let’s begin with the definition.
What Are Adverbials?
A verb is an action word. For instance, walk, talk, and sing are all verbs. They communicate that something is being done.
An adverb is a word that further describes or modifies a verb’s action. For example, in the sentence Sam answered quickly, “quickly” is the adverb that tells us more about how Sam answered. By comparison, if we wrote only Sam answered, we would have a lesser idea of the action.
That brings us to adverbials, which are words, phrases, or clauses being used as adverbs to modify an action.
Adverbial single word: Jacob writes well.
Adverbial phrase: Jacob writes with great style.
Adverbial clause: Jacob writes as if he were born with prose and a pen.
Each modifier expands our understanding of the verb with increasing detail. Regardless of each one’s length, all are functioning as adverbials.
More Examples of Adverbials
The following sentences further illustrate how adverbials can be used in different ways.
I’m walking without my jacket. (adverbial phrase)
My cat watched eagerly on the counter. (adverb and adverbial phrase)
Joan dressed silently. (adverb)
Tommy worked under great pressure. (adverbial phrase)
Nasriya is calm because she has mastered the art of patience. (adverbial clause)
Why Adverbials Matter
Written language would be much less specific and colorful if all we had at our disposal were sentence subjects with simple verbs: Sam answered, Jelena spoke, Hrefna listened. There will be many occasions in which such simplicity is effective and desirable, but over the course of a narrative, too much thrift can become thudding and dull.
Adverbials let us expand on our language in ways that provide greater precision and context. With proper placement and restraint, they can also give your writing a voice and style of its own.
Pop Quiz
Identify the adverbial in each sentence and specify if is a word, a phrase, or a clause.
1. He plays the guitar like an overcaffeinated Jimi Hendrix.
2. The bride’s father escorted her toward the altar.
3. Since you ate my lunch, I will not return your marbles.
4. The satellite system monitors all activity from space.
5. The ants gradually swarmed the sandwich.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. He plays the guitar like an overcaffeinated Jimi Hendrix. (phrase)
2. The bride’s father escorted her toward the altar. (phrase)
3. Since you ate my lunch, I will not return your marbles. (clause)
4. The satellite system monitors all activity from space. (phrase)
5. The ants gradually swarmed the sandwich. (word)
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The lesson is interesting and I really enjoyed it. The examples are clear and understandable. Thanks so much!
Could you tell me the difference between complements and adverbials?
This post explains adverbials in detail and gives examples. You can find information and examples for complements in our posts Subject Complements: Usage and Examples and Object Complements: Usage and Examples.