adverbial

Everyday

1. An adverbial is a word, phrase or clause that does the job of an adverb, telling us how, when, where or how often something happens: «in the morning», «after lunch», «with a smile». tree →
2. A fronted adverbial is an adverbial placed at the start of a sentence, usually followed by a comma: «Later that day, we went home.» tree →

In the lessons

In English grammar lessons (especially in England), pupils learn to use fronted adverbials to vary how sentences start and to add a comma after them. Adverbials can be single words («Suddenly,»), phrases («Under the bridge,») or clauses («When the bell rang,»). The adjective «adverbial» describes anything that works like an adverb: «an adverbial phrase».

Examples

• «After school» is an adverbial of time. tree →
• Start your sentence with a fronted adverbial. tree →
• «As quick as a flash, the fox ran off» begins with an adverbial. tree →
• Put a comma after a fronted adverbial. tree →
• «In the garden» is an adverbial of place. tree →
• «With great care, she lifted the egg» uses a fronted adverbial. tree →
• An adverbial can be one word or a whole phrase. tree →

Note

Plural «adverbials». An adverb is one word; an adverbial can be a word, a phrase or a clause. Do not forget the comma after a fronted adverbial. Spelling: «ad-verb-ial».