Return to CLAA Classical Grammar I
We now take up the study of adverbs. Like prepositions and interjections, adverbs are undeclined, which means they do not change their form by cases or other inflections the way nouns and verbs do. They have one form only. Yet their work in speech is extensive, because they are the chief means by which we add precision and detail to what we say.
The name “adverb” points to its nature. The word is formed from the preposition ad, meaning “next to,” and the noun verbum, meaning “word.” An adverb is therefore something “placed next to a word.” This is a useful definition, because it reminds us that adverbs are not the main pillars of sentences, but additions placed alongside other words in order to make their meaning clearer. An adverb is a part of speech which, when added to words, explicates and defines their signification, that is, it explains more exactly what is meant.
Because an adverb is added to other words, it cannot stand alone as the subject of a sentence, and it cannot by itself form the predicate of a sentence. It functions as part of a term within a sentence, giving additional information about the manner, time, order, place, degree, frequency, or other circumstances belonging to what is being said. Many modern students are taught to think that an adverb is “a word that modifies a verb.” That is not wrong as far as it goes, but it is not sufficient, because it reduces the use of adverbs to only one of their many functions. Adverbs certainly can modify verbs, but they can also modify participles, pronouns, adjectives, and even other adverbs.
We can see this plainly in simple English examples. When we say, “The sun shines brightly,” the sentence is complete without the adverb, because “The sun shines” already makes sense. The adverb “brightly” is added only to tell us how the sun shines. When we say, “Solomon was a very wise man,” the sentence is also complete without “very,” because “Solomon was a wise man” already makes sense. The adverb “very” is added to tell us the degree of his wisdom. When we say, “The lion roars with power,” the sentence is complete without “with power,” because “The lion roars” already makes sense. The added phrase tells us the manner in which the lion roars. When we say, “Your ancestors lived here,” the sentence is complete without “here,” because “Your ancestors lived” already makes sense. The adverb is added to tell us the place. In each of these, the adverb is not necessary to make a sentence; it is added to make the meaning more exact.
We can also add adverbs to adverbs, increasing detail even further. When we say, “The sun shines brightly in the morning,” we are adding a further circumstance of time to the shining. When we say, “Solomon was a very wise man long ago,” we add time again, specifying when. When we say, “The lion roars angrily with power,” we add an adverb of manner that sharpens the manner already expressed. When we say, “Your ancestors lived happily here,” we add an adverb of manner to the living, alongside the adverb of place. This is the nature of adverbs: they are optional additions, but they are the means by which speech becomes exact instead of vague.
Because adverbs add detail, they can be confused with adjectives, especially when we speak carelessly. Sometimes people say, “The sun shines bright.” Here “bright” is used to modify the verb “shines,” but “bright” is an adjective, and adjectives properly modify substantives, not verbs. If we want to modify a verb, we should use an adverb, and thus we should say, “The sun shines brightly.” If we want to keep the adjective “bright,” then we must place it with the substantive it modifies and say, “The bright sun shines.” In this way we keep the distinction clear: adjectives modify substantives; adverbs modify the signification of other words.
In English this distinction is often easy because many adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -ly. Thus we have “bright” and “brightly,” “happy” and “happily,” “angry” and “angrily.” For this reason, we can usually distinguish adjectives and adverbs in English if we simply speak carefully. The deeper grammatical reason for the distinction is also worth keeping in mind. Adjectives are nouns and are declined; therefore, they can appear in different grammatical positions because they can take different cases and can be used substantively. We can speak of “the poor” as a subject, as in “The poor are blessed,” and we can speak of “the prayers of the poor,” and we can speak of lending “to the poor.” Adverbs, however, have no cases and cannot be used this way. If we try to use adverbs in place of adjectives—saying “the poorly are blessed,” or “the prayers of the poorly,” or “lend to the poorly”—the language collapses into nonsense. Remembering that adjectives modify substantives, and adverbs do not, keeps our speech from becoming careless and confused.
Adverbs must also be distinguished from prepositions, because prepositions can sometimes be used as adverbs. We have learned that prepositions are set before nouns, and that they govern the cases of the nouns they accompany. Their work is to express the relationship between nouns or related terms. But if a word that is normally a preposition is used without a noun following it, then it cannot truly be acting as a preposition, because it is not governing anything. In that case it functions as an adverb.
This becomes clear in a sentence such as Qui ante non cavet, post dolebit, meaning, “He who is not careful before, will be sorry after.” The words ante and post look like prepositions, but no nouns follow them. Since they are not placed before nouns, they are functioning as adverbs, each indicating the time when the action takes place. The same is true in Coram laudare, clam vituperare inhonestum est, meaning, “To praise to the face and to dispraise behind the back is dishonest.” Here coram and clam appear without nouns following them, and therefore they function as adverbs, indicating the manner or circumstance of the action rather than governing a noun.
Although adverbs have one form and no cases, they did not fall into our books from heaven. They were formed, and it is helpful to understand how many of them arose. Many adverbs are derived from adjectives, substantives, pronouns, and even phrases. When we see these patterns, we are less surprised by the variety of adverbs we encounter.
Adjectives of the first and second declensions, declined like bonus, bona, bonum, commonly form adverbs by ending in -e. Thus from beatus, beata, beatum we form the adverb beate, and from malus, mala, malum we form male. Adjectives of the third declension, declined like acer, acris, acre, commonly form adverbs by ending in -ter. Thus from acer, acris, acre we form acriter, and from prudens, prudentis we form prudenter. Another major source of adverbs is the Ablative case, because the Ablative often expresses circumstance. Thus from fors, fortis meaning “chance” we form forte meaning “by chance.” From citus, cita, citum meaning “quick” we form cito meaning “quickly.” From the pronoun is, ea, id meaning “that,” we form eo meaning “for that reason” or “therefore.” Sometimes whole phrases become adverbs and are compressed into compound forms. Thus hoc die, meaning “on this day,” becomes hodie, meaning “today,” compounded from hoc and die. This helps us understand why adverbs do not all look alike, even though each has only a single form.
From all of this we learn the practical conclusion. In reading, many adverbs will be recognizable by common patterns such as -e, -ter, or familiar Ablative forms, but many will still need to be memorized as we encounter them. In composition, we will learn to use them deliberately and correctly. For now, we become familiar with what they are and how they function, so that we do not confuse them with adjectives or prepositions, and so that we are prepared to recognize them in sentences.
In our memory work we retain a few essential truths. We recall again the eight parts of speech, and we retain the definition that an adverb is a part of speech which, when added to words, explicates and defines their signification, as in “he speaks softly,” “she is very skillful,” and “he is not angry.” We also retain that three things belong to an adverb: signification, comparison, and figure. We then learn the broad range of adverbial significations, which are traditionally numbered as twenty-four basic kinds, and we memorize the chief examples.
Some adverbs signify time, such as hodie today, cras tomorrow, heri yesterday, perendie on the day after tomorrow, olim once, aliquando sometime, nuper recently, and quando when. Some signify place, such as ubi where, ibi there, hic here, istic there, illic over there, intus inside, and foris outside. Some signify number, such as semel once, bis twice, ter thrice, quater four times, and iterum again. Some signify order, such as inde thence, deinde next, denique finally, and postremo finally. Some belong to asking or doubting, such as cur why, quare how, unde whence, quorsum whither, num if, and numquid is it possible. Some are used for calling, such as heus hey, O O, and ehodum look here. Some affirm, such as certe, nae, profecto, sane, and scilicet, all carrying the sense of certainly or truly. Some deny, such as non, haud, minime, neutiquam, and nequaquam. Some are used for swearing, such as pol, aedepol, hercle, and medius fidius. Some exhort, such as heia, age, agite, and agedum. Some flatter or entreat, such as sodes and amabo. Some forbid, such as ne, meaning “that not.” Some express wishing, such as utinam, si, and O si. Some signify gathering, such as simul, una, pariter, non modo, and non solum. Some signify parting, such as seorsum, sigillatim, and vicatim. Some signify choosing, such as potius and imo. Some belong to unfinished things or near-completion, such as paene almost, sere too late, prope nearly, vix barely, modo only, and non as “no.” Some are used for showing, such as en look, and ecce look. Some express doubt in the sense of uncertainty, such as forsan, forsitan, fortassis, and fortasse, meaning perhaps. Some signify chance, such as forte by chance and fortuito by luck. Some signify likeness, such as sic, sicut, quasi, ceu, tanquam, and velut. Some signify quality, such as bene well, male badly, docte wisely, and fortiter bravely. Some signify quantity, such as multum much, parvum little, minimum least, paululum little, and plurimum most. Some signify comparison, such as tam so much as, quam how much, magis more, minus less, and maxime most.
We also remember that adverbs have three degrees of comparison: the positive, as docte, fortiter, and prope; the comparative, as doctius, fortius, and propius; and the superlative, as doctissime, fortissime, and proxime. Finally, we remember that adverbs have two figures: the simple, as facile and saepe, and the compound, as difficile and persaepe.
With this, we have a clear understanding of what adverbs are, what they do, how they differ from adjectives and from prepositions, and how they are commonly formed. The fuller work of meeting them in reading and learning to use them well will belong to our continued study as we progress further in grammar and composition.
Memory Work
1. REVIEW: How many parts of speech are there?
There are eight parts of speech: Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle; Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection. The first four are declined, the last four are undeclined.
2. What is an adverb?
An adverb is a part of speech, which when added to words, explicates and defines the signification, as: he speaks softly, she is very skillful, he is not angry.
3. How many things belong to an adverb?
Three: (1) signification, (2) comparison and (3) figure.
4. How many significations of adverbs are there?
There are 24 basic significations.
- of Time, as: hodie (today), cras (tomorrow), heri (yesterday), perendie (on the day after tomorrow), olim (once), aliquando (sometime), nuper (recently), quando (when);
- of Place, as: ubi (where), ibi (there), hic (here), istic (there), illic (over there), intus (inside), foris (outside);
- of Number, as: semel (once), bis (twice), ter (thrice), quater (four times), iterum (again);
- Order, as: inde (thence), deinde (next), denique (finally), postremo (finally);
- Asking or Doubting, as: cur (why?), quare (how?), unde (whence?), quorsum (whither?), num (if?), numquid (is it possible?);
- of Calling, as: heus (hey!), O (O!), ehodum (look here!);
- of Affirming, as: certe, nae, profecto, sane, scilicet (which all mean certainly, truly);
- of Denying, as: non (not), haud (not), minime (not at all), neutiquam (not at all), nequaquam (not at all);
- of Swearing, as: pol (truly, by Pollux), aedepol (truly, by Pollux), hercle (indeed, by Hercules), medius fidius (by the god of truth);
- of Exhorting, as: heia (good!), age (come on!), agite (come on!), agedum (come on!);
- of Flattering, as: sodes (please), amabo (please);
- of Forbidding, as: ne (that not);
- of Wishing, as: utinam (would that), si (if), O si (O if);
- of Gathering, as: simul (at once), una (at once), pariter (together), non modo (not only), non solum (not only);
- of Parting, as: seorsum (separately), sigillatim (one-by-one), vicatim (street-to-street);
- of Choosing, as: potius (rather), imo (rather);
- of Unfinished things, as: paene (almost), sere (too late), prope (nearly), vix (barely), modo (only), non (no);
- of Showing, as: en (look!), ecce (look!);
- of Doubting, as: forsan, forsitan, fortassis, fortasse (which all mean perhaps);
- of Chance, as: forte (by chance), fortuito (by luck);
- of Likeness, as: sic (in this way), sicut (just like), quasi (just like), ceu (like), tanquam (just like), velut (just like);
- of Quality, as: bene (well), male (badly), docte (wisely), fortiter (bravely);
- of Quantity, as: multum (much), parvum (little), minimum (least), paululum (little), plurimum (most);
- of Comparison, as: tam (so much as), quam (how much), magis (more), minus (less), maxime (most).
Note: The significations and examples above should be memorized. This work will prove very helpful in the future.
5. How many degrees of comparison are in an adverb?
Three: Positive, as: docte, fortiter, prope. Comparative, as: doctius, fortius, propius. Superlative, as: doctissime, fortissime, proxime.
6. How many figures?
Two: Simple, as: facile, saepe. Compound, as: difficile, persaepe.
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