Adverbial phrases answer the questions: How? Where? When? Why? An adverbial is a phrase that adds more information to the verb in a sentence. They help to make your writing more interesting. Examples 1. The beach ball rolled gently into the sea (how). 2. The beach ball flew over the waves (where). 3. The beach ball dropped into the sea yesterday (when). 4. The beach ball rolled into the sea due to the strong wind (why). For each of the sentences below, write three new sentences adding a different type of adverbial phrase for each one to show how/where/when/why. Some have been filled in for you already. Sentence How Where When Why The teacher smiled. smiled brighter than the sun. smiled at the front of the classroom. smiled after the lesson. smiled with relief. A kitten chased the mouse. A kitten chased the mouse for fun. We eat our lunch. We eat our lunch behind the tree in the playground. The football game was cancelled. The football game was cancelled in a hurry. www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 1 of 6
If you add an adverbial phrase at the beginning of your sentences, you will emphasise its importance for your reader. Examples With great regret With a leap and a jump Over the rainbow Early in the morning In an hour or so After the rain In about an hour On Mondays Every now and then For now Without a doubt First of all On that very same day Unfortunately for me Luckily for us Every day Every week From tomorrow Twice a month Adapt the following five sentences by adding an adverbial phrase to the beginning: E.g. With great regret, I have to inform you that you are fired. 1. The snack bar will open. 2. Harry Potter waved his wand to cast a spell. 3. The book had gone up in price since I last checked. 4. Charlie found the last golden ticket. 5. Mary Poppins danced with the penguins. Extension task The following sentences are incomplete and need to have some adverbial phrases, some subordinate clauses and some wider use of vocabulary to further enhance them so that they create an interesting paragraph. Your task is to decide which sentences to use (you don t have to use them all) so that you can put them into an extended paragraph making sure you use: a. adverbial phrases b. complex sentences (a sentence containing one independent main clause and at least one subordinate clause) e.g. After the rain battered the windows, the wind howled. c. wider vocabulary (use a thesaurus) d. effective punctuation e. similes and metaphors f. alliteration and onomatopoeia. www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 2 of 6
Incomplete sentences the wind howled an aura of fear surrounded them the air was white with coldness shivered and tingled in the distance the church graveyard eerie with trepidation panic and terror all of a sudden their legs froze in fear hidden by the overgrown weeds on the other side of the churchyard in the cold night air silence overwhelmed them a dare gone so badly wrong the church was door flung open the lights flickered on and off inside the church a dark pair of eyes blinked at them all of a sudden noiseless and halcyon inside the church Look at the following extract from Trash by Andy Mulligan (David Fickling Books, 2010, p.39-40) Minutes later, the train was slowing for the station, and we stood out on the sides. I could see the platform coming up, so I jumped and ended up rolling on the grass. Gardo nearly fell on me, but Rat stayed on his feet. I hadn t seen before just how quick Rat could be, and he was so thin that it was like he was just straws and paper, like he could blow off in the wind like a little kite. He didn t even look round, he just skipped along, and we hurried after him. We ran up onto the platforms, and a couple of kids looked at us with a kind of mean-eyed suspicion, like this was their territory which it was. They followed us up, at a distance. We jumped early because you don t ever want to be seen getting off the train. If the guards or even porters see you, you can get a real thrashing. The station boys are different. As long as they don t steal or get in the way, nobody cares too much. They keep the station clean, and go through a train in about two minutes. If they beg or sell, they know to do it off at the sides that s why people let them alone. www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 3 of 6
Read the extract and summarise what is happening by answering these questions. 1. What is Mulligan describing in this extract? 2. Why does he use the first person and what effect does this have on the reader? 3. Why do the boys seem so nervous? 4. If you haven t read the story what do you think the boys are trying to do? 5. What type of life do you think these boys all have? 6. Would you want to read the whole book from this extract why/why not? Read the paragraph again but this time look for the key language features in the table below. Key language choices Evidence (quotations) Effect how it makes the reader feel Adverbials Variation in sentence length Similes Slang words www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 4 of 6
Creative writing task Using all you have learnt so far choose one of the following creative writing tasks, making sure you include a wide range of vocabulary and techniques. Either: A. Write a story about this picture. Or Julochka 2014 https://flic.kr/p/nh6wl2 B. Write a story about a day when nothing goes right. When you have finished, check your work against the following success criteria. 1. Have you planned your work effectively? 2. Have you got an appropriate beginning and does it hook your readers? 3. Have you communicated your ideas effectively in your writing? 4. Have you used a thesaurus to find wider vocabulary? 5. Have you included adverbials? 6. Have you used appropriate punctuation? 7. Have you structured your work appropriately? 8. Have you thought about appealing to your audience? 9. Have you varied your sentence lengths? 10. Have you checked you spellings? 11. Have you used effective adjectives and some imagery such as: a. similes b. metaphors c. alliteration d. personification e. onomatopoeia? www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 5 of 6
Suggested answers Key language choices Evidence (quotations) Effect how it makes the reader feel Adverbials Variation in sentence length Similes Slang words Minutes later on the sides rolling skipped at a distance They followed us up, at a distance. like he was just straws and paper like he could blow off in the wind like a little kite. get a real thrashing The words reflected here are all connected with movement. This creates the feeling that the boys need to get away quickly without anyone seeing them. This short sentence shows how nervous the boys are and suggests that they are continuously looking around them feeling tense to make sure noone is paying them attention. These imply that Rat is very thin and does not eat well and probably is malnourished. Mulligan does this to emphasise the hardships of life for these children. The text has to flow as if it is a story being told by the characters to people aloud and by using slang words that the children use, it gives the passage a more realistic feel. www.teachit.co.uk 2016 25309 Page 6 of 6