Lesson 5

Little House in the Big Woods

b. Adverbs are words that describe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Ex: He ran swiftly. - The adverb swiftly describes the verb ran.
The garden was very colorful. - The adverb very describes the adjective colorful.
She drives too slowly. - The adverb too describes the adverb slowly.

Adverbs answer the following questions:

How? When? Where? To What Extent? How Often?

Find the two adverbs you underlined. What do they describe? What question do they answer?

Read the sentence from the literature passage without the adverbs. Notice how the adverbs help you to picture the action that is happening.

c. The best way to locate adverbs is to first find the verb in the sentence and then find any words that answer the adverb questions.

Ex: The team screamed excitedly after they won.

The verb in this sentence is screamed. If you then ask the question, How did they scream?, you will find the word excitedly answers that question. It is an adverb describing how the team screamed.

d. Circle the verb in each of the following sentences. Then find and underline the adverb that describes that verb. Remember, the suffix -ly often indicates the word is an adverb. What question does the adverb answer?

Ex: The horse pranced nervously. how

1) We went to the park yesterday.

2) They are leaving quickly.

3) The cats seldom fight.

4) The children play outside during recess.

5) The play is almost finished.