Adverb Phrase And Adjective Phrase: 7 Facts You Should Know

This article will be dealing in detail about adverb phrase and adjective phrase with the aid of various examples, explanations and interesting facts that you should know.

Adverb phrase can be said as an expression that carries out the role of a modifier (adverb) in a sentence and adjective phrase is the one that takes up the job of a descriptive word (adjective) in a sentence.

Do go through the following examples that have adverb phrase and adjective phrase in them.

• 1. That girl in the pink saree is my childhood friend.
• 2. Sonali is a beautiful and a graceful dancer.
• 3. Last night, we went on a long drive.
• 4. Saharsha wore a dress made of silk to yesterday’s party.
• 5. The tired and exhausted man needs complete rest.
• 6. After the class, we planned to go out.

Presently let us figure out the phrases in the above sentences and dissect whether they are adverb phrases or adjective phrases.

1. That girl in the pink saree is my childhood friend.

‘In the pink saree’ is the adjective phrase here, as it is telling us more about the noun ‘girl’ by describing what (dress) she is wearing.

2. Sonali is a beautiful and a graceful dancer.

‘Beautiful and a graceful’ is the adjective phrase used in the above sentence because it is telling us what type of dancer Sonali is by describing the noun ‘dancer’.

3. Last night, we went on a long drive.

‘Last night’ is the adverb phrase utilized in this sentence to describe the action word (verb) ‘went’ by answering the question ‘when did we go on a long drive?’

4. Saharsha wore a dress made of silk to yesterday’s party.

‘Made of silk’ is the adjective phrase used in the above sentence because it is telling us what type of dress Saharsha wore by modifying the noun ‘dress’. ‘To yesterday’s party’ is the adverb phrase utilized in this sentence to describe the action word (verb) ‘wore’ by answering the question ‘where did Saharsha wear the dress made of silk?’

5. The tired and exhausted man needs complete rest.

‘Tired and exhausted’ is the adjective phrase used in the above sentence because it is telling us how the man is by describing the noun ‘man’.

6. After the class, we planned to go out.

The adverb phrase in this sentence is ‘after the class’, as it is giving us extra information about when we planned to go out by modifying the action word ‘planned’.

Can adjective phrases be adverb phrases?

Well the answer to this question is a no. Adjective phrases cannot be adverb phrases and adverb phrases can also not be adjective phrases.

Example: Vaibhav wore a very bright coat.

‘Very bright’ is the adjective phrase in this sentence as it is telling us what type of coat Vaibhav is wearing by modifying the noun ‘coat’.

This adjective phrase can never be an adverb phrase as it is not describing the action in the sentence, but is describing the noun ‘student’.

Example: The sun shines very bright and radiantly.

The adverb phrase in this sentence is ‘very brightly’, as it is giving us extra information about how does the sun shine by modifying the action word ‘shines’.

This adverb phrase can never be an adjective phrase as it is the action ‘shine’ that is being modified by the phrase and not the noun.

Why adjective phrases and adverb phrases are different?

Adjective phrases and adverb phrases are different from each other as the first one gives us extra data of a person, place, animal or a thing (noun) in a sentence by depicting the thing while the second one gives us extra data about the activity word (verb), descriptors (adjectives) and other adverbs in the sentence by qualifying them.

Example: Liza, the girl with short hair, was looking for you.

In this sentence, ‘the girl with short hair’ is the adjective phrase because it is telling us more about the girl (Liza) who was looking for you by describing the noun ‘Liza’.

Example: Rohan will come to India this spring.

‘This spring’ is the adverb phrase utilized in this sentence as it gives answer to the question ‘when will Rohan come to India?’ by modifying the verb ‘will come’.

Thus adjective phrases and adverb phrases are different from each other as they function as adjectives and adverbs respectively.

Differences of adjective phrases and adverb phrases

1. Adjective phrases act like adjectives as they perform the role of describing the naming words (nouns) in any sentence.  Adverb phrases act like adverbs as they take up the role of modifying or describing the adjectives, other adverbs and action words (verbs) in a sentence.

Example: The smart and intelligent boy of our class will take part in the quiz competition early next week.

‘Smart and intelligent’ is the adjective phrase as it does the function of an adjective by describing the noun ‘boy’ in this sentence. ‘Early next week’ is the adverb phrase as it is performing the function of an adverb by giving us more details about the verb ‘will take part’ by answering the question ‘when the smart and intelligent boy of our class will take part in the quiz competition?’2. Adjective phrases will be located or placed only (either) before or after the noun it is modifying in a sentence, while adverb phrases can be located anywhere in a sentence

Example: The team which clears this round will be selected to the finals.

‘Which clears this round’ is the adjective phrase utilized in this sentence as it is telling us more about the noun ‘team’. Since the adjective phrase ‘which clears this round’ is modifying the noun ‘team’ it is placed right after the word ‘team’.

Example: Around noon, Vasanthi submitted her final project.

The adverb phrase utilized in the above sentence is ‘around noon’. It is describing the action word (verb) ‘submitted’ by conveying to us when Vasanthi submitted her final project. The adverb phrase ‘around noon’ is located at the beginning of the sentence.

Similarities of adjective phrases and adverb phrases

1. Both adjective phrases and adverb phrases consist of two or more than two words which do not carry any meaning of their own as they are not complete sentences but just a part of sentences.

Example: Zubiya lived a life filled with happiness.

‘Filled with happiness’ is the adjective phrase as it is giving us additional information about the noun ‘life’ in this sentence. ‘Filled with happiness’ is a phrase that is made up of three words (more than one word) and its meaning is incomplete as it is a part of the full sentence.

Example: We buy vegetables from the shop next to our house.

‘Next to our house’ is the adverb phrase in the above sentence because it is telling where the action of ‘buying’ takes place. The adverb phrase ‘next to our house’ is made up of four words and does not make any sense on its own.

2. Both adverb phrase and adjective phrase perform the common function of qualifying or modifying. Both of them give us additional information. However, the part of speech that they qualify might be different.

Example: Long ago, Ruhan has done a project absolutely amazing.

‘Long ago’ and ‘absolutely amazing’ are the adverb phrase and adjective phrase respectively.Both of these phrases do a common or a similar functionof giving us extra additional information or qualifying and describing.

The adverb phrasequalifies the verb ‘has done’ by telling us when Ruhan has done an absolutely amazing project. The adjective phrase ‘absolutely amazing’ modifies the noun ‘project’ by telling how the project was.

Examples of adjective phrases and adverb phrases

Given below are example sentences that contain adjective phrases and adverb phrases in them.

• 1. The meeting will be conducted at the seminar hall.
• 2. My grandfather is a man of great principles.
• 3. Rupali spoke very confidently in front of the audience.
• 4. The highly enthusiastic kid ended up winning all the competitions.
• 5. Jithesh handled the situation calmly and efficiently.
• 6. Mithali has always been a woman of her words.
• 7. Early tomorrow morning, the most awaited song will be released all over the world.

Examples of adjective phrases and adverb phrases with detailed explanations

We shall now identify the phrases in each sentence, understand and analyze each of them in detail.

1. The meeting will be conducted at the seminar hall.

‘At the seminar hall’ is the adverb phrase utilized in the above sentence as it is telling us where the meeting will be conducted by describing the action word ‘will be conducted’.

2. My grandfather is a man of great principles.

The phrase in this sentence is ‘of great principles’ and it is an adjective phrase because it is qualifying the naming word  (noun) ‘man’ by giving us extra information about the grandfather.

3. Rupali spoke very confidently in front of the audience.

‘Very confidently’ is the phrase utilized here and particularly it is an adverb phrase because it is answering the question ‘how did Rupali speak in front of the audience?’ by qualifying the verb ‘spoke’.

4. The highly enthusiastic kid ended up winning all the competitions.

‘Highly enthusiastic’ is a phrase in this sentence and specifically it is an adjective phrase because it is describing the naming word  (noun) ‘kid’ by giving us extra information about the nature of the kid.

5. Jithesh handled the situation calmly and efficiently.

The phrase utilized here in this sentence is ‘calmly and efficiently’ and in particular it is an adverb phrase as it is answering to the question ‘how did Jithesh handle the situation?’ by modifying the verb ‘handled’.

6. Mithali has always been a woman of her words.

The phrase in this sentence is ‘of her words’ and to be specific it is an adjective phrase because it is qualifying the naming word  (noun) ‘woman’ by giving us extra additional information about the woman, Mithali.

7. Early tomorrow morning, the most awaited song will be released all over the world.

‘Early tomorrow morning’, ‘most awaited’ and ‘all over the world’ are the phrases used in the above sentence.

‘Early tomorrow morning’ is an adverb phrase as it is functioning as an adverb by telling us when the most awaited song will be released all over the world.

‘All over the world’ is yet another adverb phrase here as it is answering to the question ‘where will the most awaited song be released early tomorrowmorning?’ by qualifying the verb ‘will be released’.

‘Most awaited’ is an adjective phrase because it is giving us more information about the noun ‘song’ by qualifying it.

Conclusion

Thus from this article, we understood the subtle differences between the adverb phrase and adjective phrase. Though, both may sound similar and confusing at times, they are never the same as both of them have different functionalities.