Meaning & use
adverbial phrases
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“adverbial phrases” is a form of “adverbial phrase”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nouncountabletechnical
A group of words that works like an adverb, giving more information about time, place, manner, or reason.
Grammar: Countable; the singular is 'adverbial phrase'. It is a grammatical label, not a physical thing.
Patterns
- an adverbial phrase of time/place/manner
- modify a verb with an adverbial phrase
- an adverbial phrase at the start of a sentence
In the sentence 'She left in a hurry,' the words 'in a hurry' form an adverbial phrase.
'Before breakfast' is an adverbial phrase of time in 'I go running before breakfast.'
Teachers often ask students to underline adverbial phrases in a text.
nouncountabletechnical
A phrase that acts like an adverb and can be moved to different positions in a sentence.
Grammar: Countable; often used in the plural when talking about several such phrases in a text.
Patterns
- move an adverbial phrase to the front
- adverbial phrases in English
- identify adverbial phrases
You can put the adverbial phrase 'with great care' at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
Some adverbial phrases, like 'very quickly', cannot easily move to the front.
The exercise asks you to find all the adverbial phrases in the paragraph.
Word forms
| singular | adverbial phrase |
|---|
Common combinations
- adverbial phrase of time
- 'After lunch' is an adverbial phrase of time.
- adverbial phrase of place
- 'Under the table' is an adverbial phrase of place.
- adverbial phrase of manner
- 'With a smile' is an adverbial phrase of manner.
- fronted adverbial phrase
- In 'On Monday, we left,' 'On Monday' is a fronted adverbial phrase.
- use an adverbial phrase
- Try to use an adverbial phrase to make your writing more precise.
Synonyms and how they differ
- adverb phrase
- A more formal term used in some grammar books; 'adverbial phrase' is the more common everyday term.
- adverbial
- Often used loosely to mean the same thing, but strictly an 'adverbial' can be a single word or a phrase.
Word family
- adverb noun
- A single word that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
- adverbial adjective
- Relating to an adverb or adverbial phrase.
Commonly confused: adverbial phrases or adjective phrase?
adverbial phrases vs adjective phrase
An adjective phrase describes a noun ('a very tall man'), while an adverbial phrase describes a verb, adjective, or whole clause.
Practice
Which words form the adverbial phrase in 'He spoke with great confidence'?
Choose one answer.
'With great confidence' tells us how he spoke, so it is the adverbial phrase. 'Great confidence' alone is a noun phrase, not adverbial.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “adverbial phrases”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.