2.5 Adverbs

Day 3: Adverbs of Frequency and Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs, like Adjectives, also have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative. They are generally compared like Adjectives.

副詞跟形容詞一樣,有三個程度的比較:原形,比較級和最高級.大多數都和形容詞的比較級差不多.

e.g.: Mary works hard.

John works harder than Mary.

Fred works the hardest of all.

1. Adverbs of one syllable form the Comparative Degree by adding “er”, and the Superlative by adding “est”, to the Positive.

單音節的副詞通過在原形詞尾添加er變成副詞比較級,添加est變成最高級.

2. The Comparative ands Superlative forms of Adverbs of more than one syllable or ending in “ly” are formed by adding “MORE” to the Positive to form the Comparative and “MOST” to form the Superlative.

多于一個音節或者詞尾是ly的副詞,是在原形前面加more和most變成比較級和最高級.

3. The Comparative and Superlative Forms of a few Adverbs are irregular.

一些副詞的比較級也是不規律的.

4. Usage

(a) Comparison using the Positive form

 用動詞的原形來比較

Comparisons can also be made using the Positive form and ‘as ..as’

對比也能用動詞原形和as…as

(as + Adverb (positive degree) + as)

e.g.: I got up as early as he did this morning.

Can you run as fast as me(or ‘as I can’)?

He speaks English as well as an American(does).

She doesn't sing as well as me.

She doesn't sing as well as I do.

Idioms:成語

Please get here as soon as possible(=as you can).

Come as early as possible.

Drive as carefully as possible.

Tell your story as simply as possible.

(b) Comparatives and Superlatives  

How can we use adverbs to make comparisons? Here are some ways.

我們怎麽用副詞來比較呢?這是一些方法.

(1). not…as + Adverb (Positive degree) +as

=V+ Adverb (Positive degree) +than…

e.g.: He doesn't study as hard as you do.

   =You study harder than he does.

   Mary doesn't dance as beautifully as Helen does.

(2). “than…” can sometimes be omitted, because it is implicit – we already know who/what is the comparison is between.

e.g.: I believe he can run faster. (=than he is doing now, or than the other boys etc)

       You ought to study harder, Tom. (= than you have done so far.)

(3). Idioms with ‘the + Adverb (comparative degree)'

e.g.: If you start now, you'll be back the sooner.

        When shall I return you the book? The earlier, the better.

The louder I shouted, the faster he ran away.

(4). ‘Better’ and ‘latest’ are both Adverbs and Adjectives.

e.g.: This car is better than that one.

I like this car better than that one.

This is the latest news from Paris.

Bill arrived latest of them all.

     (5). Idioms:

I can no longer stand this noise.

= I can't stand this noise any longer.

I had no sooner opened the door than the dog rushed out.

I would sooner(=rather) die than steal.

She'll know about the secret sooner or later.

(6). Sentence patterns

V+ Adverb (superlative degree) (+of…/among…)

e.g.: Tom runs fastest among us.

Bill arrived latest of them all.

            I like spring best of all the seasons/Of all seasons, I like spring best.

            In my family Father always gets up the earliest.

Note: The difference between Adjectives and Adverbs in expressing the superlative degree is that “the” is used before Adjectives while it is not used before Adverbs.

注意:形容詞和副詞不同處在于表明最高級的時候,前者the用于形容詞前面,而後者是the放在副詞前面.

    e.g.: Yesterday was the hottest day of the year.

    The sun shines hottest at noon.

Idioms of superlative degree成語有使用最高級副詞的

He can only run 100m in 16 seconds at best.

You should at least write to her once a week.

She doesn't understand pop music in the least (=at all).

Nobody can complain, you least of all.

Let’s do some exercises to see how well you understand this topic.

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