§ 34. The adverbial modifier is a secondary part of the sentence which modifies a verb, an adjective or an adverb. According to their meaning we distinguish the following kinds of adverbial modifiers.
1. The adverbial modifier of time.
We shall try it tomorrow. (Heym)
While dancing, Cowperwood had occasion to look at Aileen often... (Dreiser)
These preparations happily completed, I bought a house in Covent Garden Market. (Dickens)
After receiving the cheque back, there seemed to him to be something wrong somewhere. (Galsworthy)
2. The adverbial modifier of frequency.
Though they had often bothered him he had never bothered them. (London)
3. The adverbial modifier of place and direction.
Gains had spies everywhere. (Douglas)
Among the hills Martin and Ruth sat side by side. (London)
4. The adverbial modifier of manner.
Hendel Hull so obviously adored his wife. (Sanborn)
Their conversations were conducted with icy formality. (Douglas)
Marcellus accepted this information without betraying his amazement. (Douglas)
5. The adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.
Then the gun rolled into the old town, clattering over the stones. (Heym)
Now I can go to bed at last without dreading tomorrow. (Shaw)
6. The adverbial modifier of degree and measure.
It is rather good.
It weighs a pound.
7. The adverbial modifier of cause.
The men were weary, having run behind the beasts all day. (Buck)
The doctor said to operate, it can't do any harm but I have great fear of the knife for my poor boy, his mother having died under it due to negligence. (Greene)
8. The adverbial modifier of result (consequence).
She is too fond of the child to leave it.
9. The adverbial modifier of condition. (It is very rare both in English and in Russian)
Mrs. Micawber thought that with large means her husband would have distinguished himself long ago. (Dickens)
She never would have been able to make a success of the dining-room, but for the kindness and assistance of the men. (Prichard)
10. The adverbial modifier of comparison.
Like all other Forsytes of a certain age they kept carriages of their own. (Galsworthy)
Judice is as white as mud. She's as perfect as sin. (Sanborn)
And then his wife’s face flushed and contracted as though in pain. (Gaskell)
He saw as if visible in the air before him in illuminated figures the whole sum. (London)
John plays the piano better than Mary.
11. The adverbial modifier of concession. (It is very rare)
Notwithstanding the success achieved by Napoleon in the initial stage of the war of 1812 he was finally defeated.
Though frightened he carried it off very well. (Cronin)
12. The adverbial modifier of purpose.
Ham sometimes walked with us to show us the boats and ships. (Dickens)
They opened the way for her to come to him. (Douglas)
They cleared swamp growth for planting. (Eliot)
§ 35. Ways of expressing the adverbial modifier.
It can be expressed by:
1. An adverb.
Rachel turned instinctively to prevent a possible intruder from entering. (Bennett)
2. A noun with or without accompanying words.
Next day the morning hours seemed to pass very slowly at Mr. Pellet's. (E. Bronte)
They walked miles without finding any habitation.
3. A prepositional phrase.
The red dust spread up and out and over everything. (Wells)
I walked straight up the lane. (Bennett)
4. A noun, pronoun, adjective, infinitive, participle, or prepositional phrase with a subordinating conjunction.
Mary swims better than her sister.
My sister plays tennis better than I.
If necessary, she must see Mr. Bridgenorth. (Gaskell)
He shrank back, his arms lifted as though to ward off physical violence. (London)
While waiting for the water to boil, he held his face over the stove. (London)
Sometimes he (Martin), when with her, noted an unusual brightness in her eyes. (London)
5. A participle or a participial phrase.
Having decided to accept his sister’s counsel Marcellus was anxious to perform his unpleasant duty. (Douglas)
Turning away, she caught sight of the extra special edition of The Signal. (London)
When questioned, she explained everything very carefully.
6. Absolute constructions.
(a) The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction.
He had wrapped her up with great care, the night being dark and frosty. (Dickens)
Dehn burst in, the terror of the streets written on his face. (Heym)
(b) The Nominative Absolute construction.
He stopped and turned about, his eyes brightly proud. (Douglas)
(c) The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction.
He looked at Mr. Micawber attentively, with his whole face breathing short and quick in every feature. (Dickens)
(d) The Prepositional Absolute construction.
He rushed forward, with fury in his looks, and fire in his eye.
7. A prepositional phrase or construction with a gerund.
His father looked up without speaking. (Lindsay)
Nellman was arrested by the FBI ... for "being a member of the Communist Party". (Daily Worker)
On her going to his house to thank him, he happened to see her through a window. (Dickens)
I left the room without anybody noticing it.
8. An infinitive, an infinitive phrase, or an infinitive construction.
They rose to go into the drawing-room. (Galsworthy)
So, on the following evening, we again assembled, to discuss and arrange our plans. (Jerome)
He put the picture on the table for George to get a better view of it. (Maugham)
