ADVERBS ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE

 

ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE PRE INTERMEDIATE UNIT 91 ADVERBS

 

A Adverbs of frequency: how often She hardly ever plays tennis now.       I am often late. I occasionally go to the theatre.           He rarely works at weekends. We see them quite frequently.             I have never been to America. Language help   Remember that frequency adverbs usually go before the main verb, with the exception of the verb be. Notice the position of the adverb when the present perfect is used. B Adverbs of degree: how much I was a bit tired. (infml)    The flat was a little (bit) small.        She was slightly nervous. Language help   A bit, a little and slightly have the same meaning and are mostly used before adjectives that express negative ideas, e.g. We were a bit bored. I was slightly upset. (NOT I was a bit happy.) A bit and a little cannot be used with adjectives before a noun. It was a slightly small flat. (NOT It was a bit small flat.) The next four adverbs all mean ‘more than a bit but less than very’. The hotel was quite busy.                        We had quite a nice room. (NOT a quite nice room) The food was fairly boring.                       It was a fairly wet day. I was rather annoyed I missed the film.    It was a rather good party. OR rather a good party. The weather was pretty good. (infml)      We had a pretty difficult journey. The restaurant was completely/totally empty. I totally/completely agree with you. We had an extremely interesting trip. [very interesting] It’s an incredibly good book. C Adverbs of manner These adverbs describe the way in which someone does something, or the way that something happens. EXERCISES 91.1 Form sentences from the words. 1 get     occasionally    I    early     up   ____________ I occasionally get up early.___________________ 2 me      ever    phones    she    hardly ____________________________________________ 3 have    leg     my     broken      never      I ____________________________________________ 4 frequently     them     I     at     visit     weekends ____________________________________________ 5 brother     often     me     Sunday     calls      quite     on    my _______________________________ 6 summer    saw    I    him    rarely    the    during ____________________________________________ 7 office     always     in     she     the    is     eight     before ____________________________________________ 91.2 Replace the underlined adverb with a different adverb that has a similar meaning. 1 The film was pretty good. _______rather_______ 2 She hardly ever goes to conferences now. __________________________ 3 The shops were quite busy. __________________________ 4 They are two sisters, but they look totally different. __________________________ 5 I thought the film was a bit disappointing, didn’t you? __________________________ 6 I’m afraid I’m extremely busy next week. __________________________ 7 We often ask them to turn their music down. __________________________ 91.3 Put the two ideas into one sentence by using a suitable adverb. 1 I walked up the path. I didn’t make a noise. _________ I walked up the path quietly. _______________ 2 I must speak to her. It’s important. _________________________________ 3 I asked him to move his car. I did it in a nice and correct way. _________________________________ 4 I spoke to her. I made sure the others didn’t know. _________________________________ 5 He ran out of the room. It was very quick and unexpected. _________________________________ 6 I spoke to her this morning. It was only for a few minutes. _________________________________ 91.4 Change the underlined adverbs in 1–4 to make them more positive. Change the underlined adverbs in 5–7 to make them less negative. 1 The play was quite interesting. _____ very _________ 2 I thought they were very good. ______________________ 3 He’s been getting quite good marks in his exams. ______________________ 4 It’s a pretty nice house. ______________________ 5 John said the flat was very small. ______________________ 6 They said it was fairly boring. ______________________ 7 His clothes were very dirty. ______________________ 91.5

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