My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?): Old-School Ways to Sharpen Your English

Time, manner and place
As  with  adjectives  (
here
 ),  a  group  of  words  can  serve  as  an  adverb,  in  an
adverbial clause or phrase :
I’ll go to bed when this
programme has ended .
Answering the question When will
you go to bed?
I’ll pick you up just up the road
from the cinema .
Answering the question Where?
Some people do this for fun .
Answering the question Why? – or
perhaps Why, oh why?
That’s a bit intense
Extra  adverbs,  used  for  emphasis,  are  called  intensifiers  :  soon  enough  ,  very
nicely , remarkably good , clearly inadequate.
But don’t over-use adverbs too much
While adverbs can be used to great effect –
He is tremendously tiresom e
She is fantastically daring
He’s disgustingly rich
– it is easy to fall into the trap of using them tautologically. One way of assessing
whether your adverb adds anything is to consider a sentence with the opposite:

---

She screamed loudly .
As opposed to screaming quietly,
perhaps?
He clenched his fists
tightly .
How else could he clench his fists?
These are the adverbial equivalents of close proximity and tuna fish (see
here
).
Likewise,  don’t  fall  into  the  trap  of  using  words  such  as  fourthly  .  Where
possible, just keep it simple.
First, I heard a bang.
Second, I switched on the light.
Third, I grabbed a hairbrush.
There is no need for Fourth ly , I checked my make-up… Ninth ly , I went back to
bed.
Rule: If in doubt, leave your adverb out .
D
ANGLY BITS
(
OR
, M
ISPLACED MODIFIERS
)
‘80 per cent of married men cheat in America…’
The rest cheat in Europe.
*
‘Set against the murky background of gangland London and missing
children – buy yours for £7.99…’
R
ADIO ADVERTISEMENT FOR A BOOK
*24