Adverb Practice Sentences

Read the following sentences and choose the option that correctly identifies their adverbs.
1. There is rarely a good excuse for doing a job poorly that you can do well.
  1. Poorly, well 
  2. Can do, well 
  3. Good, well 
  4. Poorly, can do
2. The ER doctor found that four of Joe’s ribs were badly broken.
  1. Ribs 
  2. Found 
  3. Badly 
  4. Broken
3. After I played football on Saturday morning, my back and arms were really tired.
  1. Football 
  2. Tired 
  3. Played 
  4. Really
4. The king surely looked noble at the coronation ceremony.
  1. Noble 
  2. Coronation 
  3. Ceremony 
  4. Surely
5. “Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.” -Shakespeare.
  1. Where 
  2. Brook 
  3. Deep 
  4. Shakespeare
6. Linda shampooed the rug really well but still was unable to remove the tea stain.
  1. Shampooed 
  2. Really well 
  3. Unable 
  4. Remove
7. Grandmother often takes a nap after lunch.
  1. Grandmother 
  2. Often 
  3. Takes 
  4. Nap
8. Anxiously, the mother of the injured child paced the floor at the hospital.
  1. Injured 
  2. Hospital 
  3. Anxiously 
  4. Paced
9. Mother makes especially good pickles.
  1. Makes 
  2. Good 
  3. Pickles 
  4. Especially
10. Silence is sometimes the severest criticism.
  1. Silence 
  2. Is 
  3. Sometimes 
  4. Criticism

 

Answers and Explanations
1. A

“Poorly” and “well” are adverbs describing how, modifying the verb “doing/do.” “Can do” [(B), (D)] is a verb. “Good” (C) is an adjective modifying the noun “excuse.”

2. C

“Badly” is the adverb, modifying “broken.”* “Ribs” (A) is a plural noun. “Found” (B) is a verb. “Broken” (D) is the past participle of the verb “to break,” used here as an adjective modifying “ribs.”

3. D

“Really” is the adverb modifying the adjective “tired” (B). “Football” (A) is a noun. “Played” (C) is a verb.

4. D

“Surely” is an adverb modifying the verb “looked.” “Noble” (A) is an adjective. “Coronation” (B) is a noun used as an adjective modifying the noun “ceremony” (C).

5. A

“Where” is an adverb modifying the verb “runs.” “Brook” (B) is a noun. “Deep” (C) is an adjective modifying “brook.” “Shakespeare” (D) is a name, i.e. a proper noun.

6. B

“Really well” is an adverb phrase: “really” modifies “well” which modifies the verb “shampooed” (A). “Unable” (C) is an adjective modifying proper noun “Linda.” “Remove” (D) is a verb.

7. B

“Often” is an adverb modifying the verb “takes” (C). “Grandmother” (A) is a proper noun. “Nap” (D) is a noun.

8. C

“Anxiously” is an adverb modifying the verb “paced” (D). “Injured” (A) is an adjective modifying the noun “child.” “Hospital” (B) is a noun. ‘

9. D

“Especially” is an adverb modifying the adjective “good” (B). “Makes” (A) is a verb. “Pickles” (C) is a noun.

10. C

“Sometimes” is an adjective modifying the verb “is” (B). “Silence” (A) is a noun. “Criticism” (D) is a noun.