# Absence of Adverbs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914 "2005-09-16T03:09:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/41 "2005-09-16T18:15:48Z")
Two follow-up notes: [The United States’ greatest writer didn’t like adverbs](http://www.twainquotes.com/Adverbs.html): > [@Mark Twain](#): > > I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. … There are subtleties which I cannot master at all,–the confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me,–and this adverb plague is one of them. … Yes, there are things which we cannot learn, and there is no use in fretting about it. I cannot learn adverbs; and what is more I won’t. 1. My sample sentence with Franklin’s Pink was a little misleading, as “Franklin’s Pink” is a single adjective. Try this one. “Both Mary and Liza like different shades of pink, so at their wedding, they chose carnations that were Mary’s pink and roses that were Liza’s.” Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/42 "2005-09-16T18:23:28Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Getting back to the OP, **Leaffan** was complaining about an absence of adverbs, but the entire discussion has been about the use of non-adverbs as adverbs. Was the OP just misstated, or does anybody contend that we actually have less adverbs these days? The OP was misstated. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/43 "2005-09-16T18:23:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, in real big games, players come up real big. And now the absence of the adverb is spreading to other verbs. And it’s annoying: honest. Big players make big plays in big games. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/44 "2005-09-16T18:38:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Contrary to popular belief, ''effeminate" is not the primary meaning of “effete.” And now, the [most famous use of the word “effete”](http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_4.html) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/45 "2005-09-16T19:03:41Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > For another example, consider, “The color ‘Franklin’s Pink’ is named after Bubba Franklin. These roses are Franklin’s Pink.” The second Franklin clearly modifies an adjective, doesn’t it? Except that “Pink” isn’t playing the role of an adjective in this sentence. “Franklin’s Pink” is a noun. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/46 "2005-09-16T19:13:06Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > And now, the [most famous use of the word “effete”](http://www.historychannel.com/speeches/archive/speech_4.html) I’ve always thought that Spiro himself didn’t actually know the real meaning of the word, although his speechwriters might have. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/47 "2005-09-16T20:47:49Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Except that “Pink” isn’t playing the role of an adjective in this sentence. “Franklin’s Pink” is a noun. No it’s not (especially not if you look in the second example sentence, with Mary and Liza): it’s a predicate adjective. If the sentence said, “The roses are pink,” clearly “pink” is an adjective, not a noun. When “pink” is modified by “Franklin’s,” its part of speech does not change. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/48 "2005-09-16T20:50:45Z")
Hmm. I think your confusion may stem from the fact that in the first sentence Franklin’s Pink is a noun, just like in the sentence, “Pink is my favorite color,” “Pink” is a noun. Its part of speech changes in the second sentence. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/49 "2005-09-18T04:22:13Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Bullshit. Lots of Canadians say “real good” [QUOTE] Including Winnipeg native [Burton Cummings,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_Cummings) whose _Sweet Sweet_ album includes a song titled [_Real Good_](http://www.canadianbands.com/Burton%20Cummings_CDs.html). Incidentally, the tune playing on that second site is _She’s Come Undone_, which was performed by the Guess Who when Cummings was with that band. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/50 "2005-09-18T13:34:30Z")
> [@Joools](#): > > The adverb is a weak, subjective, part of speech, and has less impact than a well-chosen noun, verb, or adjective. They’re avoided in most business writing, journalism, and creative writing. And in informal conversation, they come across as a little, well, effete. “My really nice car, runs well, very fast, quite expensive.” Then when _is_ it appropriate to use adverbs, if ever? Why are they still around? > [@Excalibre](#): > > uh, what part of speech was “hella” before it was an adverb? [A proper noun](http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaPortal/WebSite/Internet_usa/Internet_usa.jsp). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/51 "2005-09-18T14:16:13Z")
\*Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverbs here. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, got some adverbs here. Come on down to Lolly’s, get the adverbs here You’re going to need If you write or read, Or even think about it. … Indubitably.\* ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/52 "2005-09-18T14:54:22Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > Then when _is_ it appropriate to use adverbs, if ever? Why are they still around? They definitely have a place, but often they can just sorta lie around uselessly, cluttering up a sentence with their rather annoyingly useless presence. Compare to: They’ve got a place, but they can clutter up a sentence with their presence. In my opinion, the latter sentence is stronger due to the lack of adverbs. Now, they’re not always bad. In the previous sentence, removing “always” drastically changes the meaning of the sentence; in this sentence, “drastically” plays an important role. But overuse of adverbs can give the impression that the author is not confident in her ideas, that she insists on qualifying everything instead of letting it stand on its own merits. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/53 "2005-09-18T16:58:46Z")
Bravo! Well put, LHoD. Stated a little differently, a famous dictum in editing is “When in doubt, cut it out.” In defense of adverbs, they also contribute pacing and/or timber (in the music sense) to a sentence. But, as you say, if overused have the opposite effect. BTW, the last three words of the spare sentence also could have been cut. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914/54 "2005-09-18T18:58:38Z")
> [@PBear42](#): > > BTW, the last three words of the spare sentence also could have been cut. 😃 It took me a minute to figure out which sentence was spare (I looked for the one in place of a flat sentence), but you’re right. Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absence-of-adverbs/321914.md?page=2)