What can be an adverbial?

Grammar Adverbial

What can be an adverbial?

1. ADVERB PHRASES (Adv P) (including single adverbs that can be modified):

1.  Reporters take notes quickly – very quickly.
2.  Anna sings well – angelically well.

2. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES:

1.  On Sundays, they stroll in the public garden.
2.  The pianist was playing with great skill. 

3. SOME NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES (NP):

 The girl phoned me today. (‘today’ being an adverb)

 ↪Today is hot.  (‘today’ being a noun)

 I faxed them yesterday. (‘yesterday’ being an adverb)

 ↪Yesterday was very tiring.   (‘yesterday’ being a noun)

 I called him this morning. (‘this morning’ being an NP functioning as an adverbial))

 ↪This morning is nice.  ((‘this morning’ being an NP functioning as Subject)

 I am seeing my dentist tomorrow. 

↪ Tomorrow will be a Covid-19 vaccination day. 

 I will email my report the next day. 

 ↪ The next day will be Friday. 

4. NOUN PHRASES followed by ago, long, etc.:

 Three months ago, Anna was jogging regularly. (but now she in a wheelchair!)

 The recital was three hours long.

 I told you that the day before.

↪ ‘the day before’ is an adverbial that you can delete, and your sentence still stands:

I told you that.

BUT ‘before’ is an adverb post-modifying the NP (adverbial) ‘the day’ and it is necessary because the sentence is not complete without it:

 I told you that the day.

 What day?

 ↪ I told you that the day before; the day [I met you and Mickle, your son, in the coffee.]

Both ‘before’ and ‘I met you and Mike, your son, in the coffee’ are post-modifiers but the former is adverbial while the latter is adjectival.

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