Editing Adverb (section)

==Functions==
The English word ''adverb'' derives (through French) from Latin ''adverbium'', from ''ad-'' ('to'), ''verbum'' ('word', 'verb'), and the nominal suffix ''-{{nbsp}}ium''. The term implies that the principal function of adverbs is to act as [[modifier (grammar)|modifier]]s of [[verb]]s or [[verb phrase]]s.<ref name="stud">Rodney D. Huddleston, Geoffrey K. Pullum, ''A Student's Introduction to English Grammar'', CUP 2005, p. 122ff.</ref> An adverb used in this way may provide information about the manner, place, time, frequency, certainty, or other circumstances of the activity denoted by the verb or verb phrase. Some examples:
*She sang '''loudly''' (''loudly'' modifies the verb ''sang'', indicating the manner of singing)
*We left it '''here''' (''here'' modifies the verb phrase ''left it'', indicating place)
*I worked '''yesterday''' (''yesterday'' modifies the verb ''worked'', indicating time)
*You '''often''' make mistakes (''often'' modifies the verb phrase ''make mistakes'', indicating frequency)
*He '''undoubtedly''' did it (''undoubtedly'' modifies the verb phrase ''did it'', indicating certainty)

Adverbs can also be used as modifiers of [[adjective]]s, and of other adverbs, often to indicate degree. Examples:
* You are '''quite''' right (the adverb ''quite'' modifies the adjective ''right'')
* She sang '''very''' loudly (the adverb ''very'' modifies another adverb – ''loudly'')

They can also modify [[determiner]]s, [[prepositional phrase]]s,<ref name="stud"/> or whole [[clause]]s or [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]s, as in the following examples:
* I bought '''practically''' the only fruit (''practically'' modifies the determiner ''the '' in the [[noun phrase]], "the only fruit" wherein ''only'' is an [[adjective]])
* She drove us '''almost''' to the station (''almost'' modifies the prepositional phrase ''to the station'')
* '''Certainly''' we need to act (''certainly'' modifies the sentence as a whole)
Adverbs thus perform a wide range of modifying functions. The major exception is the function of modifier of [[noun]]s, which is performed instead by adjectives (compare ''she sang loudly'' with ''her loud singing disturbed me''; here the verb ''sang'' is modified by the adverb ''loudly'', whereas the noun ''singing'' is modified by the adjective ''loud''). However, because some adverbs and adjectives are [[homonym]]s, their respective functions are sometimes conflated:
*'''Even''' numbers are divisible by two
*The camel '''even''' drank.
The word ''even'' in the first sentence is an adjective, since it is a [[prepositive]] modifier that modifies the noun ''numbers''. The word "even" in the second sentence is a prepositive adverb that modifies the verb "drank."

Although it is possible for an adverb to precede or to follow a noun or a noun phrase, the adverb nonetheless does ''not'' modify either in such cases, as in:
*'''Internationally''' there is a shortage of protein for animal feeds
*There is a shortage '''internationally''' of protein for animal feeds
*There is an '''international''' shortage of protein for animal feeds
In the first sentence, "Internationally" is a prepositive adverb that modifies the clause, "there is&nbsp;..." In the second sentence, "internationally" is a postpositive adverb that modifies the clause, "There is&nbsp;..." By contrast, the third sentence contains "international" as a prepositive adjective that modifies the noun, "shortage." 

Adverbs can sometimes be used as [[predicative expression]]s; in English, this applies especially to adverbs of location:
*Your seat is '''there'''.
*'''Here''' is my boarding pass (wherein "boarding pass" is the subject and "here" is the predicate in a syntax that entails a [[Subject–verb inversion in English|subject-verb inversion]]).

When the function of an adverb is performed by an expression consisting of more than one word, it is called an [[adverbial phrase]] or [[adverbial clause]], or simply an [[adverbial]].