CLASSES.
Adverbs may be reduced to four general classes; namely, adverbs of time, of place, of degree, and of manner. Besides these, it is proper to distinguish the particular class of conjunctive adverbs.
I. Adverbs of time are those which answer to the question, When? How long? How soon? or, How often? including these which ask.
OBS.—Adverbs of time may be subdivided as follows:—
1. Of time present; as, Now, yet, to-day, nowadays, presently, instantly, immediately, straightway, directly, forthwith.
2. Of time past; as, Already, just now, lately, recently, yesterday, formerly, anciently, once, heretofore, hitherto, since, till now, long ago, erewhile, erst.
3. Of time to come; as, To-morrow, hereafter, henceforth, henceforward, by-and-by, soon, erelong, shortly.
4. Of time relative; as, When, then, first, just, before, after, while, whilst, meanwhile, as, till, until, seasonably, betimes, early, late, whenever, afterward, afterwards, otherwhile, otherwhiles.
5. Of time absolute; as, Always, ever, never, aye, eternally, forever, perpetually, continually, incessantly, endlessly, evermore, everlastingly.
6. Of time repeated; as, Often, oft, again, occasionally, frequently, sometimes, seldom, rarely, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, once, twice, thrice, or three times. Above this, we use only the phrases four times, five times, six times, &c. Whether these ought to be reckoned adverbs, or not, is questionable: times, for repetitions, or instances, may be supposed a noun; but such phrases often appear to be used adverbially.
II. Adverbs of place are those which answer to the question, Where?
Whither? Whence? or, Whereabout? including these which ask.
OBS.—Adverbs of place may be subdivided as follows:—
1. Of place in which; as, Where, here, there, yonder, above, below, about, around, somewhere, anywhere, elsewhere, otherwhere, everywhere, nowhere, wherever, wheresoever, within, without, whereabout, whereabouts, hereabout, hereabouts, thereabout, thereabouts.
2. Of place to which; as, Whither, hither, thither, in, up, down, back, forth, aside, ashore, abroad, aloft, home, homewards, inwards, upwards, downwards, backwards, forwards. Inward, homeward, upward, downward, backward, and forward, are also adverbs, as well as adjectives; but some critics, for distinction's sake, choose to use these only as adjectives.
3. Of place from which; as, Whence, hence, thence, away, out, off, far, remotely.
4. Of the order of place; as, First, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, &c. Thus, secondly means in the second place; thirdly, in the third place; &c. For order, or rank, implies place, though it may consist of relative degrees.
III. Adverbs of degree are those which answer to the question, How much?
How little? or, to the idea of more or less.
OBS.—Adverbs of degree may be subdivided as follows:—
1. Of excess or abundance; as, Much, more, most, too, very, greatly, far, besides; chiefly, principally, mainly, mostly, generally; entirely, full, fully, completely, perfectly, wholly, totally, altogether, all, quite, clear, stark; exceedingly, excessively, extravagantly, intolerably; immeasurably, inconceivably, infinitely.
2. Of equality or sufficiency; as, Enough, sufficiently, competently, adequately, proportionally, equally, so, as, even, just, exactly, precisely.
3. Of deficiency or abatement; as, Little, less, least, scarcely, hardly, scantly, scantily merely, barely, only, but, partly, partially, nearly, almost, well-nigh, not quite.
4. Of quantity in the abstract; as, How, (meaning, in what degree,) however, howsoever, everso, something, anything, nothing, a groat, a sixpence, a sou-markee, and other nouns of quantity used adverbially.
IV. Adverbs of manner are those which answer to the question, How? or, by affirming, denying, or doubting, show how a subject is regarded.
OBS.—Adverbs of manner may be subdivided as follows:—
1. Of manner from quality; as, Well, ill, wisely, foolishly, justly, wickedly, and many others formed by adding ly to adjectives of quality. Ly is a contraction of like; and is the most common termination of English adverbs. When added to nouns, it forms adjectives; but some few of these are also used adverbially; as, daily, weekly, monthly, which denote time.
2. Of affirmation or assent; as, Yes, yea, ay, verily, truly, indeed, surely, certainly, doubtless, undoubtedly, assuredly, certes, forsooth,[308] amen.
3. Of negation; as, No, nay, not, nowise, noway, noways, nohow.
4. Of doubt or uncertainty; as, Perhaps, haply, possibly, perchance, peradventure, may-be.
5. Of mode or way; as, Thus, so, how, somehow, nohow, anyhow, however, howsoever, like, else, otherwise, across, together, apart, asunder, namely, particularly, necessarily, hesitatingly, trippingly, extempore, headlong, lengthwise.
V. Conjunctive adverbs are those which perform the office of conjunctions, and serve to connect sentences, as well as to express some circumstance of time, place, degree, or the like. This class embraces a few words not strictly belonging to any of the others: as, (1.) The adverbs of cause; why, wherefore, therefore; but the last two of these are often called conjunctions. (2.) The pronominal compounds; herein, therein, wherein, &c.; in which the former term is a substitute, and virtually governed by the enclitic particle.