Adverbs
Elementary School
Definition
A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb, often telling how, when, where, or to what extent. For example, in "she ran quickly," "quickly" describes how she ran. Many adverbs end in "-ly."
Worked examples
"She ran quickly down the street."
"Quickly" is an adverb modifying the verb "ran," telling how she ran.
"The extremely tall building stood downtown."
"Extremely" is an adverb modifying the adjective "tall," telling to what extent.
"He arrived yesterday."
"Yesterday" is an adverb modifying the verb "arrived," telling when he arrived.
Common mistakes
- "She speaks good." → "She speaks well." "Well" is the adverb; "good" is an adjective and cannot modify the verb "speaks."
- confusing "real" (adjective) for "really" (adverb) → "This is really important" not "real important" Use "really" to modify adjectives; "real" means genuine and modifies nouns.
- thinking all adverbs end in "-ly" → many adverbs do not: soon, very, often, never, here, there While many adverbs have "-ly," plenty of common ones do not follow that pattern.
Where you'll use it next
You'll use adverbs when writing more sophisticated sentences, analyzing author's craft and tone, identifying parts of speech in grammar exercises, and strengthening descriptive and narrative writing in later ELA courses.
See also
Reviewed by Pat Cheng, M.Ed. — StudyPug Curriculum Lead · Last updated June 6, 2026