Vietnam national university, Ha noi
College of foreign languages
Post-graduate department
Le Thi Minh Hien A study on English adverbs as modifiers
(A contrastive analysis with Vietnamese
equivalents)

Nghiªn cøu vÒ tr¹ng tõ tiÕng Anh víi chøc n¨ng bæ nghÜa
(So s¸nh ®èi chiÕu víi tiÕng ViÖt)
M.a. Minor-Thesis

Field: English linguistics
Code: 60.22.15

I.3. Classification of adverbs 7
I.3.1. Syntactic classification of English adverbs 7
I.3.2. Syntactic classification of Vietnamese adverbs 7
I.3.3. Semantic classification of English adverbs 8
I.3.3.1. Circumstantial adverbs 8

v
I.3.3.2. Process adverbs 9
I.3.3.3. Modal adverbs 10
I.3.3.4. Adverbs of degree 10
I.3.3.5. Focusing adverbs 10
I.3.3.6. Conjunctive adverbs 10
I.3.4. Semantic classification of Vietnamese adverbs 10
I.3.4.1. Adverbs of time 10
I.3.4.2. Adverbs of place 10
I.3.4.3. Adverbs of frequency 10
I.3.4.4. Adverbs of manner 10
I.3.4.5. Adverbs of cause/ reason 11
I.3.4.6. Adverbs of purpose 11
I.3.4.7. Adverbs of modality 11
I.3.4.8. Adverbs of degree 11
I.3.4.9. Adverbs of conjunction 11
I.3.5. Position classification of English adverbs 11
I.3.5.1. Circumstantial adverbs 11
I.3.5.2. Adverbs of manner 12
I.3.5.3. Modal adverbs 12
I.3.5.4. Adverbs of degree and focusing adverbs 12
I.3.5.5. Conjunctive adverbs 12
I.3.5.6. Adverbs in initial position 13
I.3.6. position classification of Vietnamese adverbs 13


Chapter II: English adverbs as modifiers and their vietnamese
equivalents 29
II.1. Contrastive analysis with teaching and learning of foreign languages 29
II.2. Modifying function of English adverbs and their Vietnamese equivalents 29
II.2.1. Modifier of adjectives and adverbs 29
II.2.2. Modifier of verbs 29
II.2.3. Modifier of nouns/ noun phrases 30
II.2.4. Modifier of particles, prepositions and prepositional phrases 31
II.2.5. Modifier of (pre)determiners/ cardinal numerals/ indefinite pronouns 31
II.2.6. Cases of subjuncts 31

vii
II.2.7. Modifier of a sentence 31

II.3. Mobility in positions of English and Vietnamese adverbs 32
II.4. Similarities and differences between English adverbs as modifiers and Vietnamese
equivalents 33
II.4.1. Similarities 33
II.4.2. Differences 34

Chapter III: Implications to teaching adverbs as modifiers 35
III.1. Errors made by Vietnamese learners in using adverb 35
III.2. An experiment 35
III.3. Error analysis 35
III.3.1. Errors in confusing adjectives and of adverbs 35
III.3.2. Errors in placing adverbs 36
III.3.3. Errors in choosing adverbs of degree (=intensifiers) 37
III.4. Suggestions for teaching and learning English adverbs as modifier 38
III.2.1. To the teachers 38

* Unacceptable/ Ungrammatical structures
[ ] the number of the example used

ix
List of table

Table 1 Types of Item Subjuncts 21
Table 2 Residue functions 23
Table 3 Types of circumstantial elements 23
Table 4 Correspondence between experiential and interpersonal functions 24
Table 5 Types of adjuncts 25
Table 6 English adverbs of degree and their Vietnamese equivalents 29
Table 7 Types of adverbs modifying verbs and their Vietnamese equivalents 30
on in a detailed study.
- Adverb is a language phenomenon, generally found in both English and Vietnamese.
Since these two languages originate from different language families, there certainly
exist similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese in this linguistic
category.
As a result, Vietnamese learners of English have great trouble in understanding, identifying
and using adverbs in general and their different functions in particular.
- It’s commonly believed that contrastive analysis is considered a device for predicting
points of difficulty and possible errors that learners will make. R. Lado (1957) states:
“We can predict and describe the pattern that will cause difficulty by comparing
systematically the language and the culture to be learnt with the native language and
culture of the learners”.
2. aims of the study:
The aims of the study on English adverbs as modifiers in contrast with their Vietnamese
equivalents are:
- To provide a clear classification on English adverbs in terms of their morphological
features as well as their semantic and syntactic functions.
- To study the positions and roles of English adverbs as modifiers in relation with other
word classes (i.e. verbs, adjectives, ) or other words.
- To show the linguistic characteristics of English adverbs in contrast with the
Vietnamese equivalents, chiefly basing on the function of modification.
- To find out similarities and differences of adverbs as modifiers in English and
Vietnamese.
- To suggest some types of exercises and activities on the adverbs as modifiers in
English with an aim to help Vietnamese learners avoid errors and negative interference.
3. Scope of the study:
This study examines English adverbs as modifiers compared with Vietnamese
equivalents to point out the distinctive features of English adverbs and possible difficulties that
Vietnamese learners may meet when studying English adverbs. Therefore, attention paid to
English will far outweigh to Vietnamese as this study will be used in teaching English adverbs

It may due to the fact that many modern grammarians recognize words traditionally grouped
together as adverbs to serve a number of different semantic and syntactic functions. Therefore,
each scholar considered them from his own point of view. Briefly, we would like to present
some English and Vietnamese linguists’ viewpoints on adverbs and then draw out common
ideas about adverbs in English and Vietnamese.
According to G. David Morley (2000; 40) ‘Traditionally in grammar, adverbs have
been seen as performing a so-called modifying role in relation to verbs. This role is associated
with circumstantial adverbs, which are single words marking circumstances – how, why, when,
where – of the verbal process’. For instance: [1] He learns English fast.
[2] The party is going to take place here.
Sharing the same viewpoint, Bergman, Carol Ann (1986) agreed that, “As it is proved
that an adjective adds more information to a noun or a pronoun whereas an adverb adds
preciseness to a verb, an adjective or another adverb”. That is to say, adverbs take the
modifying role of strengthening or weakening the force of those adjectives/ adverbs in:
[3] They are extremely happy.
[4] Ann walks rather slowly.
Furthermore, an adverb may also modify a noun or pronoun and a sentence,
emphasizing or qualifying the statement expressed as in:
[5] The rooms upstairs have not been cleaned for ages.
[6] He saw an accident and immediately he contacted the police.
In short, adverb is a modifying word which gives extra meaning to a verb, an adjective,
another adverb, a noun or a pronoun and even a sentence. They express some additional
circumstances attending an action or a quality: time, place or manner of an action, the degree
of a quality, etc.
Let us change to some Vietnamese researchers opinions about adverbs
According to Diep Quang Ban (1992; 167), adverb is a supplementary sentence
element. Syntactically, it can be one word or co-coordinative or subordinative phrase.
As for Hoang Trong Phien (1980; 124), adverb is a supplementary sentence element
and it is the most popular one among others, it has the meaning of place, time, reason and
purpose

sideways. They are used with the meaning ‚as far as….is concerned‛.
Added to this group, a lot of adverbs are formed with the prefix a-: abroad, aside,
again, ahead,… but again this prefix is also found in adjectives like ashamed, asleep, awake,
Another small set of adverbs has be- as first syllable, also indicating position or
direction: before, behind, beneath, besides, between, beyond
I.2.2. The compound group:
Some of these are shortened forms of preposition groups: downstairs, overnight,
Others are combinations of other classes of words: however, moreover,
I.2.3. The simple group:
Finally, there are adverbs with simple lexical stems. They are one-syllable or two-
syllable words of native origin which are not marked for class: up, often, there, very, yet…
Here, we may wish to divide this set into two subgroups as followed:
+ One is a restricted group of mainly temporal adverbs, which have a simple (non-
derived) form expressing temporal position or frequency; yesterday and tomorrow (may also
included).
+ The other is a restricted group of words referring mainly to the locative circumstances
of position and direction including in, on, below, before… adverb particles of this type may
often be viewed as a kind of abbreviated expression of a locative circumstance as:
[10] Have you let the cat out?- usually the interpretation is possible either from the
generally understood situational context or from some previous sentences in the discourse of
text.
I.2.4. Morphonology of Vietnamese adverbs:
As we all know, Vietnamese is not an inflectional language with no change in form.
Therefore, Vietnamese adverbs do not have such morphological features as compared to those
in English.
[11] Anh ta lµm g× còng cÈn thËn. - He does anything carefully.
[12] Anh ta là một con ng-ời cẩn thận. He is a careful man.
I.3. Classification of adverbs:
I.3.1. Syntactic classification of English adverbs:
According to Quirk R. & Green Baum S. (1987; 125), there are two types of syntactic

[20] Besides, HYUNDAI and KIA of Korea are easily consumed because of
- Ngoài ra, HYUNDAI Và KIA của Hàn Quốc cũng là những nhãn hiệu dễ tiêu thụ vì
(Minh Thu-Nguyen Hoa, 2006)
I.3.3. Semantic classification of English adverbs:
According to A.J. Thomson and A.V. Martinet (1985; 52), adverbs are classified into
six types: adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, adverbs
of degree
and sentence adverbs.
As for M. Swan (1995; 22), adverbs are divided into such types as: connecting adverbs,
focusing adverbs, adverbs of certainty, adverbs of completeness, adverbs of manner, adverbs of
place, adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, emphasizing adverbs.
Meanwhile, Angela D. (1992; 551), states that adverbs express six broad types of
meaning in clauses and groups: circumstantial, process, modal, degree, focusing, conjunctive.
Although each researcher has reasons to classify adverbs into different types with quite
different names, they share the same semantic classification of those types. Basically, adverbs
consist of six main types, each of which is made up of several subtypes, which are exemplified
by lexical exponents in the following subsections:
I.3.3.1. Circumstantial adverbs:
+ Adverbs of time: used to denote the time of an action, they refer to definite time,
duration of time and indefinite time. They primarily answer the question: When?, Since
when? and How long?.
+ Adverbs of frequency: used to denote the frequency of the action either definitely or
indefinitely. They mainly answer the question How often?.
+ Adverbs of place: used to denote the location, position or the direction of an action.
Denoting location or position answers the question Where?. Denoting direction answers the
questions Where to? and Where from?.
According to Howard Jackson (1992; 47), ‚ circumstances can not generally be said
to be necessary for the completeness of a proposition. Circumstances are usually additional
information about a situation‛. There are six types of circumstance with a number of
subdivisions as the following diagram:

Goal (Where to?)
Distance (How far?)

Position (When?)

TEMPORAL
Duration
Frequency (How often?)

Orientation
General (How long?)
Backward (Since when?)
Forward (Until when?)

PROCESS (How?)
Manner (In what way?)

Means (By what means?)
Instrument (What with?)
Agentive (By whom?)
RESPECT – Respect (In respect of what?)

CONTINGENCY
Cause (Why? What cause?)

Reason (Why? For what reason?)
Purpose (Why? What for?)
Result (With what result?)
Condition (Under what conditions?)


# John only helped me to buy the house. (= John didn't actually buy it for me.)
I.3.3.6. Conjunctive adverbs: performing conjunctions, and serving to connect sentences, as
well as to express some circumstance of time, place, degree, or the like.
[29] He fell down the stairs; consequently, he will not be attending school tomorrow.
I.3.4. Semantic classification of Vietnamese adverbs:
Nguyen Kim Than (1996; 190), defines the main types of adverbs in Vietnamese:
I.3.4.1. Adverbs of time:
[30] Hôm qua, anh đi đâu? Where did you go to yesterday?
I.3.4.2. Adverbs of place:
[31] Các bạn đang họp ở trên lầu They are having a meeting upstairs.
I.3.4.3. Adverbs of frequency:
[32] Năm năm Đại hội họp một lần. The Congress is held every five years.
I.3.4.4. Adverbs of manner:
[33] Chúng tôi đi tàu thuỷ đến HP We went to HP by ship.
[34] Chị ta chạy vội vào trong nhà. - She ran into the house hastily.
I.3.4.5. Adverbs of cause/ reason:
[35] Tại anh, tôi đến muộn - Due to your fault, I came late.
I.3.4.6. Adverbs of purpose:
[36] Anh ta hét to để chúng tôi có thể nghe rõ.
- He shouted so that we could hear him clearly.
I.3.4.7. Adverbs of modality:
[37] Hy vọng cậu đến kịp - Hopefully, you come there in time.
I.3.4.8. Adverbs of degree (intensifiers):
[38] Mặc áo khoác vào đi, ngoài trời rất lạnh. - Put on the coat, it is very cold outside.
I.3.4.9. Adverbs of conjunction (=sentence adverbs):
[39] Be careful! Otherwise, you may fall.
I.3.5. Position classification of English adverbs:
According to C.E. Eckersley (1970; 261), there are three positions for adverbs in the
sentence:
(a). Front-position, i.e. as the first in a sentence.

[46] He had been washing the clothes happily. and He had happily been
[47] Angrily, she tore up the letter.
I.3.5.3. Modal adverbs:
As clause adjuncts, they are typically placed in mid-position or after be, since they tend
to focus on the process expressed by the verb.
[48] They will probably get married next month.
However, perhaps and may be are exceptions to this rule. They usually go at the
beginning of a clause as in: [49] Perhaps she will come.
I.3.5.4. Adverbs of degree and focusing adverbs:
It is best to place them in front of and next to the word(s) modified by them.
[50] She’s done everything- she’s even been a soldier.
I.3.5.5. Conjunctive adverbs:
They are often placed at the beginning of a clause, serving to provide a link between
the present clause with the previous one(s).
[51] I would like to go skiing. However, I have too much work to do.
However, when the clause contains no adverb of frequency, some connecting adverbs
may be placed in the M position of a clause.
[52] I am, nevertheless, anxious to continue.
I.3.5.6. Adverbs in initial position:
When an adverb is placed at the beginning of a clause, its meaning extends to the
whole clause and not simply to the predication or to an element of the predication. In this
position, the meaning may be of two broad kinds:
(a) it may function as an element within the clause and have the same status as the
other elements as in: [53] Slowly, the rising sun appeared over the distant horizon.
In this way, the scope of the adverb ranges more widely over the clause than it would
do in mid- or end-position.
(b) other adverbs occur in initial position but are considered, both syntactically and
semantically, to be outside the clause, and are usually called Disjunct and Conjunct:
[54] Frankly, I don’t believe you.
[55] As a result, they are going to buy a smaller car.

In addition, adverbial clauses (or particle phrases) such as of course, luckily, therefore,
etc , commenting on the rest of the sentence or what has gone before in a previous sentence,
may also be classed as modifiers, as in: [60] Luckily, they didnt recognize us.
G. David Morley (2000; 131) states that ‚the element occurring between the determiner
and the headword element is the modifier and its function is determined by this position‛.
In short, modifiers are not usually required by a clause's syntax; they are optional, and
help clarify or limit the extent of the meaning of the word or phrase they modify.
I.4.2. Main functions of adverbs:
As it can be seen in many cases, an adverb basically functions as a modifier of a verb,
an adjective, another adverb. However, adverbs are not restricted to the those three functions.
They can also act as modifiers of a preposition, a noun/ a noun phrase, a determiner, a
numeral, a pronoun and a whole sentence. Furthermore, not all adverbs that modify adjectives
will also modify adverbs. As such, not all adverbs occur with all the functions. We would like
to analyze the modifying function of adverbs explicitly and separately as followed:
I.4.2.1. Modifier of verbs:
According to G. David Morley (2000; 40) ‚adverbs have been seen as performing a so-
called modifying role in relation to verbs. This role is associated with circumstantial adverbs‛
[61] He came yesterday/ here.
[62] Residents must quickly and quietly exit the building during the fire drill.
Besides, many degree adverbs can be used with gradable verbs which refer to things
that can happen more or less completely, fully, strongly, etc as in: [63] I entirely agree.
However, certain degree adverbs generally go together with certain verbs. For example,
we can say I fully understand and I firmly believe but not *I fully like and *I firmly think.
I.4.2.2. Modifier of adjectives:
The gradability of adjectives may be exploited and expressed by means of modifying
adverbs. Most commonly, the modifying adverb is an intensifier, whether an emphasizer,
conveying primarily emphasis and not scaling as really, actually, clearly, indeed,
[64] She is really kind to me.
or an amplifier, denoting a high degree as very, absolutely, in all respects, badly,
deeply, well

I.4.2.5. Modifier of particles, prepositions and prepositional phrases:
The few intensifying adverbs that can premodify particles in phrasal verbs can also
premodify prepositions or (perhaps rather) prepositional phrases. It is called the adverbial
function:
[73] He made his application well within the time.
[74] It's immediately inside the door.
I.4.2.6. Modifier of (pre)determiners, cardinal numerals, indefinite pronouns/ quantifiers:
Intensifying adverbs (including downtoners) can be used in this way.
[75] Nearly everybody came to our part.
With the ordinals and superlatives, a definite determiner is obligatory for
premodification.
[76] We counted approximately the first thousand votes.
Some intensifiers such as too, so, very, rather, can be used to modify such indefinite
quantifiers as much, many, little and few.
[77] We’ve got very little time left.
[78] His firm does quite a lot of business in Egypt.
I.4.2.7. Modifier of sentences:
Lastly, adverbs can modify the whole sentence, though the concept of modification
here needs to be interpreted in an increasingly liberal way. Indeed, the relationship is no longer
one of modification at all but rather one of interrelationship with the rest of the clause.
G. David Morley (2000; 42) listed three subgroups of adverb modifying a whole
sentence:
+ In the first group, known in traditional grammar as ‘sentence adverbs’, are those
which have the function of providing a connective link between the preceding clause and the
present one. A more contemporary term is conjunctive adverbs.
[79] Therefore, the performance should now be better.
+ In the second group of adverbs relating to the rest of the clause are those which
express different facets of the speaker’s perspective on the sentence and which have been
labeled as modal or disjunctive adverbs.
- the speaker’s assessment of the degree of certainty or doubt surrounding the factual

[84] I’m afraid this man hardly ever comes on time.
I.4.3.4. Quantifying modifiers:
As with adjectives, this refers to circumstantial adverbs of space and time and may be
(a) exact: [85] The airport is at least ten miles away.
(b) non-measurable quantity: expressed by the deictic items so and that