30 Everyday English Adverbs and What They Mean
Daily conversations rely heavily on brief modifiers to set the time, place, or degree of an action. Speakers frequently state that an event occurred yesterday, meaning on the day preceding today, or note that a task was completed quickly, meaning with speed. Other routine statements rely on words like twice, defined simply as two times, to clarify frequency without added elaboration.
Every word on this list can be added to Memorabit, which sends reminders at unexpected moments throughout the day. The complete collection of common adverbs appears below.
| Word | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ahead | at or in the front | I see the lights of a town ahead |
| nearly | (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but | he nearly fainted |
| quickly | with speed | he works quickly |
| completely | to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent; Completely or entirely | it was completely different from what we expected |
| certainly | definitely or positively | she certainly is a hard worker |
| immediately | without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening | he answered immediately |
| absolutely | completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers | an absolutely magnificent painting |
| beyond | farther along in space or time or degree | through the valley and beyond |
| particularly | to a distinctly greater extent or degree than is common | he was particularly fussy about spelling |
| seriously | in a serious manner | a play dealing seriously with the question of divorce |
| clearly | without doubt or question | they were clearly lost |
| thus | (used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result | it is late and thus we must go |
| anyway | used to indicate that a statement explains or supports a previous statement | I don't know what happened to it; anyway, it's gone |
| easily | with ease | she was easily excited |
| literally | in a literal sense | literally translated |
| yesterday | on the day preceding today | yesterday the weather was beautiful |
| directly | without deviation | the path leads directly to the lake |
| fully | to the greatest degree or extent; completely or entirely | fully grown |
| highly | to a high degree or extent; favorably or with much respect | highly successful |
| otherwise | in other respects or ways | he is otherwise normal |
| twice | two times | I called her twice |
| previously | at an earlier time or formerly | he was previously president of a bank |
| apparently | from appearances alone | irrigation often produces bumper crops from apparently desert land |
| indeed | in truth (often tends to intensify) | they said the car would break down and indeed it did |
| apart | separated or at a distance in place or position or time | These towns are many miles apart |
| possibly | by chance | we may possibly run into them at the concert |
| slightly | to a small degree or extent | the children argued because one slice of cake was slightly larger than the other |
| somewhere | in or at or to some place | she must be somewhere |
| forever | for a limitless time | no one can live forever |
| anywhere | at or in or to any place | you can find this food anywhere |