Adverbials
Any word, phrase or clause that tells you when, where or how, and how to spot one of any length.
The answer
An adverbial is a word, phrase or clause that does the same job as an adverb, telling you more about a verb or clause, such as when, where or how something happened.
Examples
We played football after school.
A preposition phrase telling you when.
We heard an owl last night.
A noun phrase telling you when.
She kept reading until the candle burned out.
A whole subordinate clause telling you how long.
The dog barked loudly.
A single adverb is an adverbial too.
How to spot it
- Ask when, where, how or how often about the verb. The words that answer are the adverbial.
- Try moving it. Most adverbials can move to the front of the sentence and it still makes sense.
- Look at its shape: one adverb, a phrase starting with a preposition, a time phrase such as last night, or a whole clause.
The common mistake
Thinking an adverbial must be one word ending in -ly.
‘In the morning’, ‘last week’ and ‘when the bell rang’ are all adverbials. The name is about the job the words do, not their length.
When it is taught
- First met
- Year 4
- On the pupil word list
- Year 4, as “adverbial”
Year 4 names adverbials and introduces fronted adverbials. Year 5 uses adverbials of time, place and number (later, nearby, secondly) to link paragraphs, and Year 6 adds linking adverbials such as on the other hand and as a consequence.
Try a question
Underline the adverbial in this sentence.
The children tidied the classroom before lunch.
Show the answer
Answer: before lunch
It tells us when they tidied. It is a preposition phrase working as an adverbial.
Related terms
More grammar terms
Questions parents ask
What is the difference between an adverb and an adverbial?
Adverb is a word class: one word, like slowly. Adverbial is a job: any word, phrase or clause that tells you more about a verb or clause, like slowly, after lunch or when it got dark.
Can a whole clause be an adverbial?
Yes. In ‘She finished when the teacher got cross’, the subordinate clause when the teacher got cross tells you when she finished, so it is working as an adverbial.
What are adverbials of time, place and number?
They are the Year 5 examples: later (time), nearby (place) and secondly (number). They help writers link one paragraph to the next.
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