An adverb is a part of speech used to describe a verb, adjective, clause, or another adverb. It simply tells the readers how, where, when, or the degree at which something was done.
Examples:
The manager accepted the challenge very nicely.
The italicized word is an adverb that describes nicely, which is another adverb.
Tears began to fall as he saw the completely lifeless body of his wife.
The adverb in this sentence is completely, which describes the adjective lifeless.
Surprisingly, the cubicles of the public restroom are clean.
Surprisingly is the adverb in this sentence. It modifies the clause that comes right after it.
Even though all of the sample sentences above have one-word adverbs, adverbs are not limited to a single word. Sometimes, adverbs come in phrases.
