English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate » Unit 91: Adverbs

Word List
  • a bit [slightly]
  • a little (bit)
  • angrily
  • briefly
  • completely
  • degree [amount]
  • extremely
  • fairly
  • frequency
  • frequently
  • hardly ever
  • incredibly
  • occasionally
  • politely
  • pretty [rather]
  • quietly
  • quite
  • quite often
  • rarely
  • rather
  • seldom
  • slightly
  • suddenly
  • totally
  • urgently
Exercises

91.1 ‣ Replace the underlined adverb with a different adverb that has a similar meaning.

  1. The film was pretty good.
  2. She hardly ever goes to conferences now. _____
  3. The shops were quite busy. _____
  4. They are two sisters, but they look totally different. _____
  5. I thought the film was a bit disappointing, didn’t you? _____
  6. I’m afraid I’m extremely busy next week. _____
  7. We often ask them to turn their music down. _____

91.2 ‣ Put the two ideas into one sentence by using a suitable adverb.

  1. I walked up the path. I didn’t make a noise.
  2. I must speak to her. It’s important.
    _____
  3. I asked him to move his car. I did it in a nice and correct way.
    _____
  4. I spoke to her. I made sure the others didn’t know.
    _____
  5. He ran out of the room. It was very quick and unexpected.
    _____
  6. I spoke to her this morning. It was only for a few minutes.
    _____

91.3 ‣ Change the underlined adverbs in 1–4 to make them more positive. Change the underlined adverbs in 5–7 to make them less negative.

  1. The play was quite interesting.
  2. I thought they were very good. _____
  3. He’s been getting quite good marks in his exams. _____
  4. It’s a pretty nice house. _____
  5. John said the flat was very small. _____
  6. They said it was fairly boring. _____
  7. His clothes were very dirty. _____

91.4 ‣

Over to you

Make the sentences true for you by adding a suitable adverb, in the correct place.

  1. I clean my teeth after breakfast.
  2. I buy clothes I don’t like.
    _____
  3. I lose things.
    _____
  4. I forget things.
    _____
  5. I remember my dreams.
    _____
  6. I speak to strangers on buses and trains.
    _____
  7. I give money to people in the street if they ask me.
    _____

Now think about each of your answers to the sentences above. Do you think they are:
a) fairly typical?
b) slightly unusual?
c) quite unusual?

If possible, compare your answers with someone else.

Answer Key
A ‣ Adverbs of frequency: how often

She hardly ever plays tennis now.

I am often late.

I occasionally go to the theatre.

He rarely works at weekends.

We see them quite frequently.

I have never been to America.

Language help

Remember that frequency adverbs usually go before the main verb, with the exception of the verb be. Notice the position of the adverb when the present perfect is used.

B ‣ Adverbs of degree: how much

I was a bit tired. (infml)

The flat was a little (bit) small.

She was slightly nervous.

Language help

A bit, a little and slightly have the same meaning and are mostly used before adjectives that express negative ideas, e.g.
We were a bit bored.
I was slightly upset. (NOT I was a bit happy.)

A bit and a little cannot be used with adjectives before a noun.
It was a slightly small flat. (NOT It was a bit small flat.)

The next four adverbs all mean ‘more than a bit but less than very’.

The hotel was quite busy.

We had quite a nice room. (NOT a quite nice room)

The food was fairly boring.

It was a fairly wet day.

I was rather annoyed I missed the film.

It was a rather good party. OR rather a good party.

The weather was pretty good. (infml)

We had a pretty difficult journey.

The restaurant was completely/totally empty.

I totally/completely agree with you.

We had an extremely interesting trip. [very interesting]

It’s an incredibly good book.

C ‣ Adverbs of manner

These adverbs describe the way in which someone does something, or the way that something happens.

Nora had secretly1 put all of the letters into her bag.

I went in and shut the door quietly. The curtains were closed and the room was dark, but I suddenly2 realised I wasn’t alone.

Penelope was in pain, and I could see she needed help urgently3.

I spoke to Charles briefly4 this morning. I asked him very politely if he could work an extra hour this evening, but he reacted quite angrily and walked off.

1 in a way that others couldn’t know about
2 quickly
3 very quickly because of something important
4 for a short time

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