Core Patterns

Adverbs

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It answers questions such as how?, when?, where?, how often? and to what degree? In a Reed-Kellogg diagram, the place where an adverb hangs shows which word it modifies.

What you’ll learn

Hang an adverb on a slant under the verb it modifies
Hook an adverb onto the slant of the adjective or adverb it modifies
Tell a disjunct, which comments on the whole sentence, from an ordinary adverb
Keep “not” and “never” inside the verb phrase rather than on a slant

Adverbs on verbs

Most adverbs modify a verb. They tell you how, when, where or how often the action happened. Each one hangs on a slant beneath the verb, just as an adjective hangs beneath its noun.

The diagram ignores word order. He answered immediately and Immediately he answered give the same diagram, because a diagram shows what modifies what, not which word comes first. But in English, an adverb cannot go in every position: see the note after the figure.

“He answered immediately.”

Reed-Kellogg — a slant under the verb

nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
advmod Adverbial modifier

Dependency — advmod on the root

Comparing the two views

Both views attach immediately to answered. Reed-Kellogg shows what kind of modifier it is by where the slant hangs. A slant under a verb holds an adverb; a slant under a noun holds a word that describes the noun, such as an adjective or an article. The tree names the kind with a label: advmod (adverbial modifier) here, and amod (adjectival modifier) for an adjective on a noun.

Adverbs on adjectives and other adverbs

An adverb can modify a word that is itself a modifier. In The kettle boiled surprisingly quickly, quickly modifies the verb boiled, and surprisingly modifies quickly.

The diagram follows the grammar: surprisingly hangs off the slant of quickly, on its left, not off the base line. If a third adverb modified surprisingly, it would hook onto that slant in the same way.

Find what the nearest adverb modifies
Ask “boiled how?” → quickly. So quickly attaches to the verb.
Then ask what the next one modifies
“Quickly to what degree?” → surprisingly. So it attaches to quickly, not to boiled.
Hang each off the line above it
Draw the slant for surprisingly on the left of the slant for quickly, parallel to it. A short line joins the two at the top.

“The kettle boiled surprisingly quickly.”

Reed-Kellogg — a slant hanging off another slant

det Determiner
nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
advmod Adverbial modifier

Dependency — three levels of depth

Comparing the two views

Here the two views agree. The tree puts surprisingly one row below quickly, and quickly one row below boiled. Reed-Kellogg shows the same chain as a slant hooked onto a slant. In both views, surprisingly belongs to quickly, not to the verb.

An adverb on an adjective is drawn the same way. In Nina wore an unusually bright scarf, unusually answers “how bright?”, so its slant hooks onto the slant of bright, which hangs under scarf. In the tree, unusually is the advmod of bright. The thoroughly bored students were fidgeting is drawn the same way.

Disjuncts: adverbs that comment on the whole sentence

A disjunct is an adverb that comments on the whole sentence. In Honestly, nobody noticed, the word honestly does not say how the noticing happened. It is the speaker’s comment on the statement, so it sits outside the clause.

The diagram treats it like a vocative: a short line floating above the clause, attached to nothing. Not surprisingly, … is drawn this way: some adverbs are independent words that modify nothing at all.

Not every adverb at the start of a sentence is a disjunct, even when a comma follows it. These two kinds are ordinary modifiers, drawn on a slant under the verb:

A transitional adverb, such as however, therefore or nevertheless, joins its clause to the one before.
An adverb of manner or time can move to the front and still modify the verb, like Quickly in Quickly he showered and dressed. In the Roles exercise it is then a Predicate piece of its own, before the subject.

One word can do both jobs. In The kettle boiled surprisingly quickly, surprisingly tells how quickly, so it hangs off quickly. In Surprisingly, the shop was empty, the same word comments on the whole statement, so it is a disjunct.

In the Roles exercise, a Disjunct must be a comment adverb (honestly, frankly, luckily, surprisingly and similar words). It must open the sentence and be followed by a comma.

“Honestly, nobody noticed.”

Reed-Kellogg — a disjunct floats above the clause

advmod Adverbial modifier
nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence

Dependency — indistinguishable from a manner adverb

Comparing the two views

The tree has no way to say “outside the clause”. It attaches Honestly to noticed with advmod, the label it gives an ordinary adverb such as immediately. So in the tree, Honestly, nobody noticed and Nobody noticed immediately have the same structure. Only the Reed-Kellogg diagram shows the difference.

Not and never stay in the verb phrase

Traditional grammar calls not an adverb. But when it goes with a verb, this app keeps it inside the verb phrase instead of hanging it on a slant. In Camila did not reply, the verb slot reads did not reply, and the Roles exercise boxes those three words as one Verb phrase.

The dependency tree gives not its own label, neg, attached to the main verb. The parser splits a contraction into two words: didn’t becomes did (VBD) + n’t. Both not and n’t carry the adverb tag RB, but the POS exercise files them as particles (PART), not adverbs.

The app does the same with never, which the parser also labels neg. In Omar never takes the bus, the verb slot reads never takes, and the Roles exercise boxes never takes as the Verb phrase. In the POS exercise never is still an adverb (ADV). Always and usually hang on a slant as usual.

Quick check

In Marta speaks English very fluently, what does fluently modify, what does very modify, and how is very drawn?
Answer
The adverb fluently modifies the verb (speaks how? fluently), so it hangs on a slant under speaks. The adverb very modifies fluently (how fluently? very), so its slant goes on the left of the slant for fluently, parallel to it and hooked at the top. Notice the word order too: the object English stays next to speaks.
In Diego wrote an extremely short email, which word does extremely modify, and where does it hang in the Reed-Kellogg diagram?
Answer
It modifies short, an adjective: ask “how short?” → extremely. So its slant hooks onto the slant of short, which hangs under email. It does not hang under the verb wrote. In the tree, extremely is the advmod of short.
A story says It snowed all afternoon. The next sentence could be Sadly, the market closed early. or Therefore, the market closed early. In which of the two is the first word a disjunct?
Answer
In the first. Sadly is the speaker’s comment on the whole statement (It is sad that the market closed early). So it floats on its own line above the clause, and the Roles exercise labels it Disjunct. Therefore is a transitional adverb: it links its sentence to the one before (the snow is the reason), so it hangs on a slant under closed, like early.
How does this app draw not in The printer did not work, and what label does the dependency tree give it?
Answer
The verb slot reads did not work: not stays inside the verb phrase instead of hanging on a slant, and the Roles exercise boxes did not work as one Verb phrase. In the tree, not is neg, attached to work. A traditional diagram would draw this not on a slant under the verb.

Key terms

Adverb: A word modifying a verb, adjective or adverb. Tagged RB (or RBR/RBS for comparative and superlative), relation advmod. She spoke softly. — on a verb. She spoke too softly. — on another adverb. a very old map — on an adjective.
See: Adjectives & Adverbs
Disjunct: An adverb commenting on the whole sentence rather than modifying anything in it. It is drawn floating above the clause, unconnected. Clearly, the guests enjoyed the meal. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
See: Reed-Kellogg Diagrams
Transitional adverb: An adverb that joins its clause to the one before: however, therefore, moreover, consequently. Drawn on a slant under its own clause’s verb, not floating like a disjunct. The hotel was old. However, the rooms were clean. Santiago missed the last train. He therefore took a taxi.
Adverbial: Anything doing an adverb’s job — a single word, a prepositional phrase, or a whole clause. All three hang below the word they modify. She left early. She left at dawn. She left when the bell rang. — a word, a phrase and a clause.
See: Prepositional Phrases · Adverb Clauses

Practice on a real sentence

Before you start, ask which word strikingly and superficially modify: the verb entered, the noun antagonist (the character who works against the hero) or the adjective beautiful. In the Dependencies tab, the second adverb hangs from the first as conj. In the Roles tab, both adverbs sit inside the Subject.

Loading the practice sentence…