Adverbial

Disambiguation: adverbial is also an adjective that means "relating to an adverb.”

An adverbial (/ædvɜ:(r)bɪəl/) or adverbial phrase (/ædvɜ:(r)bɪəl freɪz/) is a phrase that syntactically functions as an adverb; its syntactic function is to modify other expressions, including verbs, adjectives, other adverbials (including adverbs), and sentences — i.e. it says when, where or how something happens.

Meaning

Circumstances

The following non-exhaustive table show typically circumstances which are expressed using adverbials:

Circumstance	Subcircumstance	Wh- word/phrase	Example(s)
Time	Time point	when?	I got up at six o'clock.
Time	Duration	how long?	I ran for thirty minutes.
Place	Location	where?	I did it at home.
Place	Direction	what way?	I went out.
Place	Distance	how far?	We cycled 12 miles.
Frequency	Absolute frequency	how many times?	We did it twice. We did it three times.
Frequency	Indefinite temporal frequency	how often?	We won sometimes.
Frequency	Definite temporal frequency	how often?	I run every day. I get paid monthly.
Frequency	Relative temporal frequency	how often?	I run twice as often as you.
Manner		how?	She played chess well. They danced with gusto.
Degree		how much	He drank a lot.
Reason		why?	I don’t teach because of the money.

Semantic roles

In addition, a wide variety of semantic roles can be expressed using adverbials, including:

Semantic role	Example(s)	Notes
Agency	She went to the café with her husband. She was given flowers by her husband.
Recipiency	He gave some flowers to his wife.
Beneficiary	He booked the hotel for his boss.
Instrument	Merci cut the cake with a knife.
Semantic goal	They walked to the park.
Patient	She listened to music.	Only with obligatorily intransitive verbs.

etc.

Form

Position

The usual position for an adverbial is within the verb phrase, after the main verb and any direct objects.

An adverbial can be in front position (a fronted adverbial)

Constituents

Grammatically:

• An adverb phrase, i.e. a phrase with an adverb as its head can be used as an adverbial.
  • An adverb phrase can consist of a single word phrase; i.e. a single adverb.
• It can be a prepositional phrase, or sometimes just a single word preposition, i.e. a prepositional phrase adverbial
• It can be a noun phrase, making a noun phrase adverbial.
• It can be an adverbial clause

References

Compare adjectival.