adjective / noun

adverbial

ad-VUR-bee-ul/ædˈvɜːrbiəl/

Relating to or serving the grammatical role of an adverb.

The phrase “very slowly” has an adverbial role, modifying “walks.”

A simple tabletop grammar demonstration: a small card reading “walks” sits beside a longer card reading “very slowly.” A curved arrow from the whole phrase card to the verb card shows the phrase functioning adverbially by modifying the action.

Etymology

adLatinto, toward

+verbLatinverb, word

+ialLatinrelating to

The pieces evoke something “added to a verb” to limit or extend its meaning. Adverbial describes something relating to adverbs or doing an adverb’s job.

In context

POC English10:42

adverbial Clauses can describe time place manner reason purpose lots of other things in a sentence

English punctuation rules (Comma, Period, Colon, Semicolon)

More examples

The teacher identifies an adverbial clause explaining when the event happened.
Students compare one-word adverbs with longer adverbials.
Moving the adverbial changes the emphasis of the paragraph.

Forms

adverbial · adverbials

adverb noun — A word modifying a verb, adjective, or clause.

Similar words

adverb: Names a word class rather than a phrase's broader function.
modifier: Broader; includes noun modifiers as well as adverbial elements.