Syntactic Functions of Adverbs

§ 6. Adverbs may modify single words, phrases and sentences.
When they modify verbs, they can serve as adverbial modifiers of
time, frequency, place, manner and degree.

e.g. He was then only fifteen years old. (time)

During my walks I occasionally met people I knew, (frequency)

I went back inside, (place)

I loved her passionately, (degree)

The father held the boy tightly in his arms, (manner)

When adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs, they serve
as adverbial modifiers of degree (as intensifiers).

e.g. My English was too poor to allow me to make speeches.
I led a very pleasant life there.
She left the room so quickly.
It's going to rain pretty soon.

Adverbs of degree can also modify certain kinds of prepositional
phrases.

e.g. They lived nearly on the top of the hill.
I'm almost through with my work.
His remarks were not quite to the point.

There are a few adverbs in English which can function as at-
tributes modifying nouns.

e.g. He was fully master of the situation.
She was quite a child.
Can you see the man over there?
Nobody could explain the noise backstage.

Note. In some combinations the adverbs modifying a noun become adjectivized,
e.g. the then Prime Minister, in the above examples, in after years and some others.

Some groups of adverbs, namely viewpoint, attitudinal and
formulaic ones, modify whole sentences.

e.g. He felt sure that, politically, the proposal might have serious

consequences.

Luckily, I came just in time.
Will you kindly step aside?

Conjunctive adverbs connect what is being said with what was
said before, establishing between two or more statements relations
of enumeration, equality, contrast, result, inference, replacement,
concession, opposition, time and the like.

e.g. He felt ill, yet he didn't stay in.

Paul went away for three days. Meanwhile his family were to

do the packing.

He got wet in the rain and fell ill as a result.
I know you are not a doctor. Nevertheless (still) you could

have bandaged his cut.