Adverbs of Time: They answer the questions When? How long? How soon? How often? an action (verb) has happened. Soon and Early are two of these kinds of adverbs. |
1. Soon - means 'in or within a short time; before long; or quickly' It tells of time to come. |
Sentences: a) She passed the UPCAT exams this year; soon she will be a UP freshman in the Diliman campus. |
b) The month of August is almost over, it will be 'Ber' months in the Philippines soon. |
c) I've to go to the supermart soon. We just ran out of sugar, milk, and butter for this week. |
2. Early - this is both an adverb and an adjective The comparative and superlative forms are earlier and earliest. We most commonly use EARLY as an adverb. |
As an adverb this means 'near the beginning of a period of time; or 'before the usual, expected, or planned time' |
Sentences: a) Our team scored 2 goals early (on) in the first quarter of the first game. |
b) It was early morning when the super typhoon Haiyan fiercely struck Tacloban City. |
c) You're early. We haven't had breakfast yet. |
d) Here's a dish I prepared earlier.(made a short time ago) |
e) I'm very busy, so I won't be with you till 5 o'clock at the earliest. |
3. Quickly: This is an adverb of manner. As an adverb of manner, it describes how something happens or how something is done. It tells the speed with which something is done. For example, it is possible to read or speak at different speeds. The words used to describe reading or speaking (slowly or quickly) are excellent examples of adverbs of manner. |
Sentences: a) The super typhoon greatly devastated our city, but business recovered quickly. |
b) I did not notice how my pechay plants grew quickly. |
c) Because she was late for school, she had to eat her breakfast quickly. |
NOTE; The position of an adverb is important when there is more than one verb in a sentence. If the adverb is placed after a clause, then it modifies the whole action (verb) described by that clause/phrase. This is important to know when dealing with complex sentences. |
Sample sentences: |
He quickly agreed to go to the pharmacy for the medicines.(His agreement is quick.) |
He agreed to go to the pharmacy for the medicines quickly.(He had to go to the pharmacy hurriedly.) |