Is Slowly An Adverb: 5 Important Facts You Should Know

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The word ‘slowly’ plays many different roles in English. Let us find out if ‘slowly’ can be presented and expressed as an adverb in sentences or not.

‘Slowly’ is an adverb though it acts as a determiner and describes an adverbial phrase that is performed by an adverb. The meaning of the word ‘slowly’ is to do any activity at a slow pace.

Let us understand why slowly acts as an adverb, if slowly is an adverbial phrase along with some examples and explanations in this article.

Why is ‘slowly’ an adverb?

There are several reasons why the word “slowly” behaves as an adverb. Let us find all the aspects and features that qualify “slowly” as an adverb.

The word ‘slowly’ can be considered an adverb because it modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb and also modifies an entire sentence to connect and express comment on a clause content in English.

Roles of the word ‘slowly’ as an adverbExamplesExplanations
1. The adverb ‘Slowly’ is a modifier of the verb,1.People are slowly moving on the railway platform.‘Slowly’ modifies this sentence’s verb ‘moving.’
2.The adverb ‘slowly’ can modify an adjective,2.The birds fly in the sky slowly and gradually.Here, the adverb ‘slowly’ indicates the affirmation of the verb ‘fly’ in this sentence.
3. The adverb ‘slowly’ can modify another adverb3.Someone who came to me for asking help was speaking slowly.‘Slowly’ is used here to express comment on subordinate clause content.
4. The adverb ‘slowly’ can modify a sentence4. The cars are moving slowly.The adverb,’ slowly’ modifies the entire sentence.
5. The adverb ‘slowly,’ also connects and expresses comments on English clauses.5. The baby crawls slowly as it want to catch something. The adverb, ‘slowly’ serves to connect and express comment on a clause, as it needs something to catch.
Roles of the word ‘slowly’ as an adverb

What is the type of adverb ‘slowly’?

The English language has a total of five types of adverbs. Let us discuss to which group the adverb ‘slowly’ belongs.

The adverb “slowly” comes under the group “Adverbs of Manner” in the English language because it speaks about a specific manner in which something happens.

Example: Prabir is reading the final chapter slowly so as to enjoy each and every incident that has been detailed.

Explanation– ‘slowly’ is used as an adverb of manner to qualify the main verb ‘reading’ in this sentence.

Examples of slowly as an adverb

Now, we will go through various sentences framed with the word ‘slowly’ as an adverb.

ExamplesExplanations
1. Sunita drives the blue car slowly on the road.Here, the word ‘slowly’ is certainly marked as an adverb as it expresses the manner or quality of car driving.
2. Every Monday goes slowly for me.The word ‘slowly’ is marked as an adverb as it indicates an expression of the day and what the day will be.
3. The girl walks slowly in the soil field.The girl’s movement is represented here by the word ‘slowly’ in the sentence and the word ‘slowly’ is marked as an adverb.
4. Ranabir had his lunch slowly. In this sentence the word, ‘slowly’ indicates the manner of eating and it is marked as an adverb.
5. Anika has finished the work slowly.Here, the word ‘slowly’ describes how the work is finished and it is marked as an adverb.
Examples of ‘slowly’ as an adverb

Is ‘very slowly’ an adverbial phrase?

The phrase,’ so slowly’ can be considered as an adverbial phrase because it indicates the motion of the verb. Let us look at if ‘very slowly’ is an adverbial phrase.

‘Very slowly’ is an adverbial phrase as it is a group of words that serve as an adverb together. It indicates the motion of the entire sentence or verb.

Let us have a look at some sentences that are framed by using the adverbial phrase, ‘very slowly’.

ExamplesExplanations
1. The school’s students do their home tasks very slowly as they are easily distracted.Here, ‘very slowly’ is an adverbial phrase that indicates the motion of finishing the home works.
2. The cameraman captures every moment of the function very slowly that all the photos are visible.‘Very slowly’ behaves as an adverb that describes the moment of capturing photos.
3. Barsha is doing her home task very slowly that she needs more time to complete it.‘Very slowly’ is an adverbial phrase that signs how Barsha’s home task is going on.
Examples of ‘very slowly’ as an adverbial phrase.

Can ‘slowly’ be an adjective?

It is certainly confirmed that ‘slowly’ is an adverb. Now let us see whether ‘slowly’ can be an adjective.

Slowly is not an adjective. The adjective form of ‘slowly’ is ‘slow,’ and it can be used in sentences to qualify the nouns or a group of noun.

Let us look at some sentences that are framed with the adjective ‘slow’ in the below table.

ExamplesExplanations
1. Kanika is very slow in learning and writing.Here, the word ‘slow’ is certainly considered as an adjective as it is used to describe Kanika’s pace in learning and writing.
2. The children are slow performers at the beginning of their studies.In the sentence, the word ‘slow’ is used as an adjective that mentions how children perform when they begin their student life.
3. The older man is slow in walking.Here, the word ‘slow’ denotes the manner at which the noun walks.
The word ‘slow’ is used an adjective.

 Conclusion–

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that an adverb is a quantifier of the verb, an adjective, or another adverb that actively tackles the mode of the entire sentence.