Tag: meaning

Adverbs

  • Study the following sentences:
  1. Arun runs fast.
  2. The old man walked slowly.
  3. The dog barked loudly.
  4. She spoke rudely.

The words fast, slowly, loudly and rudely add something to the meaning of the verbs runs, walked, barked and spoke. They tell us how actions are done. Such words are called Adverbs.

When we ask the question:

How does Arun run?

We get the answer –

Arun runs fast.

The word fast tells us how Arun runs. Therefore fast is an Adverb.

  • Now read these sentences:
  1.    Ben came late.
  2.    Sam gets up early.
  3.    They play chess everyday.
  4.    Reena will come tomorrow.

 

The words late, early, everyday and tomorrow add something to the meaning of the verbs came, gets up, play and will come. They tell us when the action is done. Such words are also called Adverbs.

  • Now read these sentences:
  1.  Please sit here.
  2. The students looked up.
  3. The sky is above.
  4. The books are there.

The words here, up, above and there add something to the meaning of the verbs sit, looked, is and are. They tell us where the action is done. Such words are also called Adverbs.

  • Look at the sentences given below carefully:
  1. Rose is a very beautiful flower.
  2. I like Mary because she is so pretty.
  3. These oranges are too sour.
  4. These mangoes are almost ripe.

The words very, so, too and almost add something to the meaning of the adjectives beautiful, pretty, sour and ripe. They show the degree of the quality expressed by the adjective. Such words which add something more to the meaning of adjectives are also called Adverbs.  When we ask:

How beautiful or how pretty………?

We get the answer:

Very beautiful/so pretty.

  • Now study the following  sentences carefully:
  1. Mohan runs very quickly.
  2. He walks rather slowly.
  3. She sings quite sweetly.
  4. He works too noisily.

In the above sentences the adverbs quickly, slowly, sweetly and noisily have words added to them – very, rather, quite and too. They too are Adverbs. They add to the meaning of other adverbs.

An Adverb is a word that adds to the meaning of verb, adjective or another adverb. It tells us how a thing is done, when it is done or where it is done.

The Sentence

The Sentence

 

  • Look at these groups of words:
  1. Mary has
  2. Mary has a little
  3. Mary has a little lamb.
  • The first two groups of words do not have complete meaning.
  • The third group has a complete meaning.
  • The third group of words is a Sentence.
  • A Sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense i.e. it has a complete meaning.
  • We always begin a Sentence with a capital letter and put a full stop (.) at the end of a Sentence.
  • We always write the word ‘I’ as a capital letter.

 

  • Let us look at some more groups of words:
  1. A bird
  2. on the tree
  3. A bird is sitting on the tree.

 

  1. Cats and milk
  2. Cats love
  3. Cats love milk.

 

  1. Birds and wings
  2. Birds fly with
  3. Birds fly with their wings.

 

  1. The girls
  2. The girls are
  3. The girls are playing.

 

  • The first two groups of words in each group are incomplete.
  • The third group of words has complete meaning.
  • They all are Sentences.

 

  • It is also important that the words in a sentence are in their proper order. Look at the following groups of words:
  1. Toys balls are
  2. Clothes the dry are
  3. Plays she the violin
  4. Black is crow the

 

  • We cannot call these groups of words, Sentences, because they are not in their proper order. Their meaning is not clear. Let us put them in their proper order:
  1. Balls are toys.
  2. The clothes are dry.
  3. She plays the violin.
  4. The crow is black.

 

  • Now, these groups of words make sense. They are meaningful and can be called sentences.