Tuesday, April 29, 2025

In defense of adverbs


  (This post is available in audio format here on Youtube.)

I'm not much on wrangling over writerly advice. It often seems a pointless exercise. So why get down into the trenches over adverbs here? First because the eight parts of speech are my favorite parts of speech. Second, because I'd like to make a larger point about the word "never" when it comes to doling out advice. A common sense argument, if you will, from someone who has never considered common sense a common attribute among people.




"I seem to be a verb" is Buckminster Fuller's famous declaration. I'll go him one better. I seem to be an adverb. Which is to say, a jack of all trades. For I am not merely an action, a process, I’m a constantly recalibrating and refining process, and this is the definition of a well-used adverb. Yes, "I go through life hurriedly" can be replaced by "I rush through life", but can be further refined as "I rush through life precipitously" or even ""I rush through life precipitously whole heartedly." With nuance come adverbs.

Adverbs are not just the despised -ly words. Here's an adverb for you: here. And there. And everywhere--all adverbs. Of the five journalistic questions, when, what, where, why, and how, adverbs answer four. As a matter of fact, those four are adverbs.There are adverbs of manner, of place, time, degree, frequency, conjunctive, interrogative, and relative adverbs. There are even focusing adverbs. What the hell tis his Pandora's box of adverbs? 

Let's have a quick look.

Adverbs of manner: these are the -lys, describing how an action is accomplished: quickly, cheerfully, lugubriously,  carefully, headlong. These should be handled carefully, not bulled headlong into with a machete.

Adverbs of place: describe where an action takes place: here, there, nowhere, above, below, before, behind.

Adverbs of degree: these are the qualifiers, my Achilles heel in early drafts: very, just, too, almost, rather, quite. These describe the intensity with which an action takes place. An action should always take place balls out (which is, I suppose another adverb of degree. These go hand-in-hand with focusing adverbs: only, especially, even, also, as well. These adverbs lay emphasis on an action while also limiting it. It's the limitations that are my personal bugaboo.

Adverbs of time: describe when, how often, how long an action takes place. Today, tomorrow, now, later, next week, eons ago, often, rarely, always, never.These last four are also called adverbs of frequency.

Interrogative adverbs: the whys and wherefores, where? when? how? the what? the which?

Relative adverbs are words like when, where, why--wait! I thought those were interrogative adverbs. And they are, when you're asking a question. When you're giving the answer, however, they're relative adverbs. (However is a conjunctive adverb, however.) The time when, the place where, the reason why.

Conjunctive adverbs: act as (surprise!) conjunctions, connecting two ideas: moreover, thus, meanwhile, then, likewise, otherwise. If you can't figure out what part of speech, a word is, it's probably a conjunctive adverb. No, probably is not one of them It's an--

--Adverb of probability, along with possibly, maybe, certainly, obviously.

That probably wasn't as quick as we'd hoped. But it served (hopefully) to remind you of the scope and utility of the adverb.

In the sentence "Why are you here?" both why and here are adverbs.

In the sentence "How are you today?" how and today are also adverbs. Try and substitute some really strong verbs in their place. Annh! Times up!  (By the way, the word also is also an adverb. If tou're getting the feeling that adverbs are essential to the language, I'd agree whole-heartedly.


We have only eight arrows in our quiver. Don't give any of them up without a fight.

Can you write a whole novel without an adverb? Sure. Georges Perec wrote an entire novel without the letter "e." Which turned into a meditation on the unconscious limits of language, the phantom letters of the alphabet, parts of speech, the infra-red and ultra-violet of communication.

Georges Perec, A Void

Now, often gurus will dance on a razor's edge and tell you "never do" such and such "unless you have to." That's their wiggle room. Their get out of jail free card.

I'm sure excising adverbs right and left, and then adjectives makes for a lean and mean text. E.B. White and Stephen King both agree. It has the empty pockets honesty of Hemingway. If you aim to write about boxing or bullfighting or deep-sea fishing, flay those adverbs till they cry uncle. But it's the wrong tone for a whole host of subjects. It's as if you were directed (and some teachers do ) to never use Latinate words. Anglo-Saxon packs more punch. That's true. But you don't always want to punch the reader.As the Wicked Witch would say, "Some things must be handled delicately."

Adverbs are not an afterthought. They're an essential part of the language. Don't use the whip hand on them, that's for verbs. When you're running full out, leave the adverbs in the dust. But when you stop to catch your breath, you'll want to know where you are and how you got there. That's when you'll call on the adverbs. And they'll be waiting for you, like the faithful companions they are.




2 comments:

  1. "It is false to die with a weapon undrawn." - Miyamoto Musashi

    "We have only eight arrows in our quiver. Don't give any of them up without a fight." - Timothy Miller

    Sage advice from divergent quadrants.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks a million!