Language/English/Grammar/Adverbs-of-Degree

Adverbs of Degree in English

Grammar Rules

Adverbs of degree answer the question how much? or to what extent? They increase or reduce the force of the word they describe.

They are usually used with adjectives and are placed before the adjective that they describe.

E.g.

• The students put up a totally entertaining performance.

They are used with other adverbs and are placed before the adverb they describe.

E.g.

• The young man walked incredibly slowly.

When used with verbs, they come before the verb.

E.g.

• The audience absolutely hated the show

Adverbs are used to indicate comparison in the same way as adjectives.

They generally form the comparative or superlative by adding more and most to the positive adverb.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
early	earlier	earliest
long	longer	longest
bravely	more bravely	most bravely
carefully	more carefully	most carefully
greedily	more greedily	most greedily

Exceptions

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
badly	worse	worst
well	better	best

Sources

https://www.languagecouncils.sg/goodenglish/-/media/sgem/document/additional-sgem-resources/pdf/grammar-rules-_-speak-good-english-movement.pdf?la=en

Other Lessons

• That v.s. Which
• Adjectives ending in ly
• Verbosity or Circumlocution
• CONJUNCTIONS → Correlative Conjunctions
• Mood vs Tense
• Positions of Adjectives in Sentences
• Positions of Pronouns in Sentences
• Legitimate Ellipsis and False Ellipsis
• Future Tense
• POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS