We also find the word most preceding efficiently, which means this is a superlative adverb and no task was completed more efficiently than his. He completed his task most efficiently of all the employees.Īgain, in this example, the adverb efficiently is easy to spot, not only because it ends in -ly but because it answers the question of how the song was performed. Adding -est to the end of a word means that the word it is describing is the most of something and nothing can be compared as being better than it.

Adding -er to a word makes it comparative, meaning it is not the most of something, but it is more than something else. Many adverbs can be modified to show different degrees by simply adding -er or -est to the end of the word. For example, the word badly is a positive adverb because it is the first or basic degree you can use to describe something without comparing it to anything else. What’s important to note about positive adverbs is that the words used don’t necessarily have to be positive or “good” words. Let’s go over each one with real examples and see how they differ. There are many ways of changing adverbs from positive to comparative and superlative. As you can see, with each comparison the degree of its descriptor increased. We may compare that thing to something else and say, “this thing is better than something else,” which is known as a comparative adverb, or we may simply say, “this thing is the best,” which is superlative. When we want to describe the quality of something, we can say the thing itself is done well-that would be a positive adverb. The best way to explain positive, comparative, and superlative adverbs is to think of them as “well, better, and best.” Adverbs have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. In this example we see that almost describes the extent to which something happens, which in this case was tripped-she almost tripped, making almost the adverb here.Īdverbs not only modify verbs, but they are also used to describe comparisons of two things. She almost tripped while jogging but regained her balance.

Let’s identify some adverbs by using our four questions.

What is the adverb