欢迎来到VOA在线收网 www.voa365.com
当前位置:VOA NEWS > VOA慢速英语 > 教育报道 >

Adventures with Adverbials: Part 2

2016-09-23 07:14来源:未知

音频下载

Adventures With Adverbials Part Two
Many American western movies use a common plot element:

 

A mysterious man appears in a small, dusty town. He speaks to people in a short, purposeful way. He shows confidence and strength.

 

Often, he is looking for revenge.

 

Exploring this common plot element can help you learn about the structure of the English language.

 

In a recent Everyday Grammar program, we explored one common adverbial, or verb modifying, structure: the prepositional phrase.

 

In today's report, we will discover two other common adverbials: the noun phrase and the verb phrase.

 

Specifically, we will explore how adverbial noun and verb phrases can help provide information about the mysterious man. This idea might sound complicated, but we promise: unlike the bad guys in a western, you will survive this lesson!

 

What is a noun phrase?

 

A noun phrase is a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence.

 

Think back to the second sentence of this story, "A mysterious man appears in a small, dusty town." The phrase "A mysterious man" is an example of a noun phrase.

 

Noun phrases can take several shapes, but in general, you can recognize them by looking for common words such as demonstrative pronouns or articles, among others. For example, the noun phrase "A mysterious man" begins with the article, a.

 

Nouns and noun phrases can act as adverbials – that is, they can modify or add information to a verb. When noun phrases act in such a role, they describe time, place, quantity, or manner.

 

So, what do adverbial noun phrases look like?

A couple of examples that describe our western film can help you see that adverbial noun phrases are not as complex as you might think:

He arrived this morning.

He is riding home.

He travels a great deal.

 

Tip #1 Ask questions to recognize adverbial noun phrases

 

Ask yourself what information these noun phrases provide. That can help you see that these noun phrases are giving adverbial information.

 

Adverbial noun phrases might look like direct objects at first, but if you remember the kind of information that adverbials give, you will not have any trouble.

 

Consider our examples:

He arrived (when?) this morning.

He is riding (where?) home.

He travels (how much?) a great deal.

 

What is a verb phrase?

 

Infinitives are the most common verb form to play an adverbial role. They consist of the base form of the verb plus to, which gives a signal that the verb is infinitive. But remember, infinitive verb phrases are not just verbs with to; they also have complements and modifiers.

 

Consider this example:

 

He went home early to rest before the gunfight.

 

The infinitive verb phrase to rest before the gunfight is telling why the man went home early.

 

You might mistake the infinitive verb phrase for a prepositional phrase. After all, both types of phrases can use to.

 

There is, however, one important difference. In prepositional phrases, to is followed by a noun or noun phrase. In infinitive verb phrases, to is followed by a verb or verb phrase.

 

Tip #2 Use the phrase 'in order to' to find adverbial verb phrases

 

Infinitive verb phrases often answer a why question. Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, two English grammar experts, say an easy way to recognize adverbial infinitive verb phrases is to add the phrase in order to to the sentence.

 

This action will show you that the verb phrase is answering a why question.

 

Consider our example:

 

He went home early to rest before the gunfight.

 

You could add the phrase 'in order to' to make this relationship clear:

 

He went home early in order to rest before the gunfight.

 

Occasionally, an infinitive operates adverbially without the meaning of 'in order to.' However, these exceptions are not common in speech.

 

How can adverbial structures help you?

 

Remember the mysterious stranger? Here is one way to summarize a typical beginning of American western movies:

 

A stranger arrived this morning. He came to get revenge.

 

These two short, declarative sentences follow a similar pattern. They both have adverbials after the main verb. The noun phrase this morning gives information about when the stranger arrived. The infinitive verb phrase to get revenge tells why the man came.

 

Once you understand this idea, you can have fun with adverbials. You can combine these sentences to create a new sentence.

 

Here is an example:

 

This morning, a stranger came to get revenge.

 

The sentence structure is this: Adverbial + Subject + Verb + Adverbial.

 

The placement of adverbial information has changed, but it contains almost all of the same information as the first two examples.

 

These examples show you that the adverbial structures often come at the beginning and end of a sentence. Understanding this idea will help you use longer, more complex sentences with multiple adverbial structures.

 

Like other adverbials, you can sometimes change the order of adverbials in the sentence. See our previous Everyday Grammar story to read more about this idea.

 

Remember: adverbial structures are one of the reasons that sentences in English are longer than the basic sentence patterns we discussed in previous stories.

 

Now that you have learned about adverbials, try looking for them when you are reading or listening to something in English.

 

For example, try to find the adverbials in this short piece from Edgar Allen Poe's “The Purloined Letter:”

 

"The next morning, I stopped at his apartment to look for my glove. While we were talking, we heard people shouting in the street. D'Arcy went to the window and looked out. Quickly, I stepped to the shelf and put the letter in my pocket. Then I replaced it with a letter that looked exactly like it, which I had taken with me. I had made it the night before."

 

With time, you will master adverbials. Like a hero in a western movie who coolly confronts his enemies, you, too, can meet adverbials without fear.


Words in This Story

 

 

plot – n. a series of events that form the story in a novel, movie, etc.

 

confidence – n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

 

revenge – n. the act of doing something to hurt someone because that person did something that hurt you

 

adverbial – adj. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree

 

prepositional phrase – n. a phrase that begins with a preposition and ends in a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase

 

phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

 

demonstrative pronoun – n. a word (such as “this,” “that,” “these,” or “those”) that tells who or what is being referred to

 

article – n. a word (such as a, an, or the) that is used with a noun to show whether or not the noun refers to a specific person or thing

 

infinitive – n. the basic form of a verb

 

confront – v. to oppose or challenge (someone) especially in a direct and forceful way

 

(责任编辑:v365)
最新新闻
  1. 网传日月光Q4产能利用率降至70%
  2. 新型存储器已经开始增长,到20
  3. 市场人士透露:联发科在汽车芯片
  4. 【VOA在线闲聊】三星收购Arm会步英
  5. Nikola召回迄今为止生产的93辆Nik
  6. 蚂蚁数科两项区块链专利完成一对
  7. 蔚来申请注册“NIO CERTIFIED 蔚来官
  8. 获小米超千万投资 改装车公司工
  9. 法拉第未来首款电动汽车FF 91再次
  10. 消息称LG显示计划明年生产920万块
  11. 宝马面向欧洲市场推出最小的跨界
  12. 美国副总统哈里斯承诺就电动汽车
  13. 知情人士透露称马斯克和推特CE
  14. 因苹果缩减订单 台积电或修改明
  15. LG推出一项新技术,以开放局域网
  16. 小米13正式上线:骁龙8Gen2发布1
  17. 米家3 KG迷你洗衣机售价699元
  18. 苹果公司官方非常兴奋:印度将生
  19. 中国广电在全国31个省区开通广电
  20. 华为 Mate 50 Pro国外上市:售价远高
  21. 特斯拉柏林超级工厂回收工厂发生
  22. 华为 Mate 50原价4999
  23. iPhone 14销售比上一代下降了11%
  24. 2021至2025中国台湾将投350亿元新台
  25. 华为Mate50Pro预定5 G芯片,苹果公司
  26. 锐龙7000核显性能实测 单核及多核
  27. 索尼PS5最新更新:6 nm制程功率与
  28. 华为会议马上就要开始了!一种全
  29. 小米再次成为了冠军!该系列产品
  30. 还能吸收病毒?!戴森首个产品也
  31. 小米又推出了一款新产品,售价
  32. Imagination携手百度飞桨创建Model
  33. 奔驰要不要再加价?2024将发布
  34. TikTok在英国或被罚款2900万美元 被
  35. iPhone15PM改用 ULTRA:笔记本和 iPa
  36. 因库存不断提升存储芯片持续降价
  37. 预计小米Civi2将推出五款新产品
  38. 可靠商务桌面电脑推荐:联想M4
  39. 受飓风影响:NASA撤回阿尔忒弥斯
  40. 《三体》影迷们疯狂了!
  41. 4090设计实在是太离谱了!
  42. Meta试图Facebook和Instagram账户添加到
  43. 苹果公司在技术上遭受重大挫折,
  44. 我国成功发射遥感三十六号卫星,
  45. 骁龙8Gen2+120 W快速充电!小米13系
  46. 屏幕下手机价格大跌,灵动岛安卓
  47. 亚马逊宣布下月举办新会员促销活
  48. 酷睿i9-13900K预告片,5.8 GHz稳定!
  49. 美国流媒体巨头Netflix宣布在芬兰
  50. 外科手术机器人 商业化将加快世