We explain what adverbs of quantity are, their function, examples and their use in sentences. Also, other types of adverbs.
What is an adverb of quantity?
Adverbs of quantity are different classes of adverbs that exist in the English language, that is, a type of words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, and even whole sentences. Its name comes from the Latin word adverbium, made up of the words ad- (“Towards”) and verbum (“verb”).
Adverbs are words whose form does not usually vary and that normally have a lexical meaning, which refers to the circumstances such as the actions expressed in the sentence occurred. This means both the place, the form or the time in which the events occurred, the perspective from which they are viewed, or the relationships of degree or quantity. The adverbs of quantity or degree deal with the latter.
As we just said, these adverbs express the number of things or the proportion between them, and together with the adverbs of time, place and manner, they constitute the adverbs that we use to refer to concrete reality, instead of a subjective and mental reality, as occurs with the adverbs of doubt, exclamation or order.
Examples of adverbs of quantity
Possible examples of the adverb of quantity are: a lot, a little, a lot, a lot, a little, too much, a lot, more, less, something, almost, so much, so, nothing, everything, approximately, practically, how much, just, even, excessively, and so on.
Sentences with adverbs of quantity
As an example of its use, the following sentences have adverbs of quantity:
- In the protest there was a lot people: about two thousand, approximately.
- You brought so much food to the picnic.
- I can understand some French words, yes.
- I have just what just to survive.
- The thieves took how much they could find.
- My grandparents found very few opportunities abroad.
- That dog is so fierce that bites everything what it finds.
- The tower is very high, so much like a mountain.
- He only lacked a bit to graduate from college.
Other types of adverb
In addition to the adverbs of quantity, we can cite other types of adverb, such as:
- Adverbs of place. They introduce a spatial relationship in the sentence, which means that they indicate where a referent is located or where an event occurs. For example: there, here, there, outside, up, down, inside, between, etc.
- Adverbs of manner. They simply refer to the way something is done or the way things happened. For example: fast, good, bad, better, quick, regularly, etc.
- Adverbs of time. They introduce a temporal relationship in the sentence, that is, they describe when an action is performed or what historical time we are talking about. For example: before, after, later, while, formerly, etc.
- Adverbs of doubt. They introduce into the sentence a notion of probability, possibility or uncertainty, which refers to the point of view of the issuer. For example: maybe, maybe, probably, possibly, etc.
- Adverbs of order. They express a chronological or continuity relationship in the referents of the sentence, that is, they say what goes first and what goes after. For example: first, then, after, etc.
- Affirmative and negative adverbs. Obviously, they affirm or deny what is said in the sentence, expressing a certain degree of agreement by the issuer with respect to what is said. For example: yes, no, certainly, exact, never, never, etc.
- Interrogative and exclamatory adverbs. They give rise to interrogative or exclamatory sentences. They are easily recognized because they should always be accentuated. For example: where, when, how, what, who, etc.