Learning English

Traditional grammars of English classify all words in eight different groups which they call "parts of speech": articles, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. This does not mean, however, that one word can belong only to one of these groups. Quite on the contrary, many words belong to several groups. For instance, the word "back" can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or adverb: - He stood with his back to the door. ( back denotes a body part, noun) - Her parents backed her in her choice of career. (back denotes the action of supporting somebody, verb) - We were sitting in the back row. (back modifies the row, adjective) - Sit back and relax. (back denotes the direction of movement, adverb) Why does this happen? The answer lies in the simple fact that words cannot be defined on their own but only through their interaction with other words in a phrase, clause or sentence. So you cannot learn that "by", ...

What are adverbs? Adverbs are words which further describe a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Examples: 1. Adverbs (in bold) describing verbs (underlined): - And they all lived happily ever after. ( How did they live? Happily.) - He looked down at her. ( Where did he look? Down.) - I soon realized the mistake. ( When did I realize the mistake? Soon.) - She always arrives at 7.30.  ( How often does she arrive at 7.30? Always.) - At the time, I hardly spoke any French. ( To what extent did you speak French ? I hardly spoke any.) 2. Adverbs (in bold) describing adjectives (underlined): - She was startingly beautiful . (How beautiful was she? To what extent ? Startingly.) - I am very happy for you. (How happy are you for me? To what extent ? Very.) - The hotel is beautifully situated in a quiet spot near the river. ( How is it situated? Beautifully.) 3. Adverbs (in bold) describing another adverb (underlined): - Don't driv...