Last week, I was in class working on a vocabulary-building chart with English-language learners. The chart had four parts of speech running along the top of the page:  noun, verb, adjective and adverb. The chart offered blank spaces so that learners could place selected vocabulary into the appropriate slot as the words were read aloud.

After releasing the fifth vocabulary word, one student blurted out: “Hey, where are the adverbs?” – as if I had used some form of censorship with this particular part of speech.

I didn’t think much about the comment at that moment.

Then, it dawned on me:  maybe I did omit the adverbs.

Perhaps my vocabulary selection for that day was as deliberate as an involuntary and uncontrollable reflex.  Maybe it was like a blink, a sneeze or a hiccup: weird and wild behaviour that we do without thinking about.

For me, the adverb has always been a perilous part of speech.

There’s no question that it is an important part of a writer’s toolkit. After all, it modifies three other parts of speech: verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

The hard part is knowing when to use it.

Here are some of my problems with the adverb:

It can create senseless duplication.  For example:  the phrase “could possibly” is redundant.  The modal verb “could” expresses possibility, so there is no need for the adverb.

Many adverbs are unclear. What does the word “recently” mean?  Does it mean “yesterday” or does it mean “last week”?  It could be either. The reader doesn’t know without some additional context.

As if duplication and imprecision weren’t enough, using adverbs can also suck the energy out of your writing.  Here’s another quick question for you: what do you think is better – “I’m so scared” or “I’m terrified”?  If you decided to choose “I’m terrified”, I’d tend to agree with you. “So” is an intensifying adverb. It means “to such a great extent”. But, the adjective terrified is more direct. It has more oomph: it tells the story without having to add “so”.

Do you remember when Justin Timberlake impersonated Jimmy Fallon on Saturday Night Live?  If you don’t remember, watch the video below and you’ll understand.

Notice how Justin Timberlake keeps repeating “so great” … “so great” to make fun of Jimmy Fallon’s repeated use of this adverb-adjective combination.

Instead of “so great”, we can say: “first-rate” or “brilliant”, “exceptional”, “inspiring”. The are many adjectives that we can use.

I am a distant admirer of both Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. They are a dynamic duo.

They even helped me with this adverb lesson. How cool is that?

Yeah … okay teacher … I can almost hear you thinking … “That’s good information – and I like JT & JF – but how am I going to know when to include an adverb in my writing and when to exclude it?  Sometimes, it is hard to decide.”

Right! Excellent question! Back to the task at hand.

To help you understand when to keep and when to remove this tricky part of speech, I’ve attached a free infographic. Click here to download it. 

For those of you who have been asking about my video lessons, I want you to be the first to know that I will be releasing three (3) low-cost lessons on the perils and the pluses of using adverbs as early as January 28, 2018.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line.

I’d be delighted to hear from you!