+37.+ From our study, you see how our classes of words grew out of man's
need of them in expressing his thoughts. And notice also how the many
thousands of words in our language can all be grouped under these few
classes. We _name_ the things about us; we invent words to tell what
these things _do_; we have another class of words which _describe_ the
things which we have named; and now we come to a fourth class of words
for which we also find great need.
When we come to tell what things _do_, we find that we need words which
will tell us _how_ or _where_ or _when_ these things are done. Notice
the following sentences:
The men work busily.
The men work late.
The men work now.
The men work here.
The men work hard.
The men work well.
The men work inside.
The men work more.
We would have a complete sentence and express a complete thought if we
said simply, _The men work_, but each of these words which we have
added, like _busily_, _hard_, _late_, etc., adds something to the
meaning of the verb. These words add something to the action which is
asserted by the verb, for they show _how_ and _when_ and _where_ and
_how much_ the men work.
+38.+ We call this class of words _adverbs_, because they are added to
verbs to make the meaning more definite, very much as adjectives are
added to nouns. Adverb means literally _to the verb_.
An adverb will always answer one of these questions: _how?_ _when?_ _how
long?_ _how often?_ _how much?_ _how far?_ or _how late?_ If you want to
find the adverbs in your sentences just ask one of these questions, and
the word that answers it will be the adverb.
+39.+ An adverb may be used also with an adjective. Notice the following
sentences:
The book is _very_ long.
_Too_ many people never think.
Notice here that the adverbs _very_ and _too_ modify the adjectives
_long_ and _many_.
+40.+ Adverbs may also be used with other adverbs. Notice the following
sentences:
He speaks _very_ distinctly.
He walks _too_ slowly.
Here the adverbs _very_ and _too_ are used with the adverbs _distinctly_
and _slowly_, and add to their meaning. We will study more fully in
later lessons concerning both the adjective and the adverb, but we can
see by this brief study why adverbs were added as a class of words, a
part of speech, for they are absolutely necessary in order to describe
the action expressed by verbs, and also to add to the meaning of
adjectives and other adverbs. Hence we have our definition of an adverb.
+41.+ +An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a verb, an
adjective, or another adverb.+