The movie “Rocky,” released in 1976, concluded 30 years later with “Rocky Balboa (2006).” All six films produced tell the story of Rocky always facing difficulties but ultimately winning.
The most important factor in his becoming a champion was probably his relentless training to the music of “going the distance.”
However, in the last movie, “Rocky Balboa,” Rocky reveals the true secret of victory to his son.
Rocky Balboa: The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!
To clarify, the construction of the sentence “It will keep you there permanently” involves choosing words that align with the components of the given formula: Subject + Verb, followed by the adverbial elements indicating location (‘where’) and manner (‘how’).
S+V + (who+what) + [where+why+how+when]
As mentioned before, the expressions for who and what can simply be a list of nouns, but the words corresponding to where, why, how, when in the second bracket [ ] must qualify as adverbs, as this area is exclusively for adverbs.
An adverb, as its name in English ‘adverb’ suggests, is a part of speech that helps the verb, derived from the combination of ‘add’ and ‘verb’. In the example above, there and permanently are adverbs. Usually, adverbs assist the verb from their designated place in the given word order, but they can also modify an adjective before it, or modify the entire sentence like in ‘After all, tomorrow is another day.’
MATTY WALKER: You aren’t too bright. I like that in a man. <BODY HEAT, 1981>
FERRIS BUELLER: Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. <FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF>
‘too’ modifies the adjective bright, and ‘pretty’ modifies another adverb, fast. The position of adverbs is quite flexible. This is the same in Korean. Consider the following examples.
She walks beautifully.
She beautifully walks.
Beautifully she walks.
Grammatically, both in Korean and English, there are no problems. However, in English, it is most natural for the adverb to come after the verb, as in ‘She walks beautifully.’
Adverbs are words that provide more information about how something is done, when it happens, where it happens, how often it happens, to what degree, or connect parts of sentences. Here are the main types of adverbs:
- Adverbs of Place: Show where an action takes place.
- Examples: Here, outside, everywhere, north.
- Adverbs of Manner: Describe how an action is performed. They answer the question “how?”
- Examples: Quickly, slowly, clearly.
- Adverbs of Time: Tell us when an action happens, ranging from specific times to general periods.
- Examples: Now, today, tomorrow, recently.
- Adverbs of Degree: Explain the intensity or degree of an action or an adjective.
- Examples: Very, too, extremely, much.
- Adverbs of Frequency: Indicate how often an action occurs.
- Examples: Often, rarely, sometimes, annually.
- Conjunctive Adverbs: These are used to connect clauses or sentences, showing relationships like contrast or cause and effect.
- Examples: However, therefore, moreover, consequently.
Each type of adverb adds different details to sentences, helping to make our communication clearer and more precise.
| Adverbs | after verbs | Where? | here, there, near, far, in, out, down, up, over, high, …. |
| How? | well, slowly, politely, safely | ||
| When? | now, then, yesterday, today, tomorrow, early, late, before, ago, | ||
Adverbs of Degree | very, only, little, much, almost, enough, …. | ||
| before verbs | Adverbs of Frequency | always, sometimes, often, rarely, frequently, …. | |
| yes or no | yes, no, not, maybe, perhaps, probably, …. | ||
| Conjunctive Adverbs: | However, therefore, moreover, consequently. | ||
Creating Adverbs
What to do when an adverb is not present?
- Add “ly” to an adjective to make it an adverb.
The first method allows us to create adverbs ourselves by using adjectives. For example, by adding “ly” to the adjective “Quick,” meaning ‘fast,’ it becomes the adverb “quickly.”
Drill Sergeant: GUUUUUUMP! Why did you put that weapon together so quickly, Gump?
Forrest Gump: You told me to, Drill Sergeant?
Drill Sergeant: Jesus H. Christ! (Forrest Gump, 1984)
In this way, by attaching the adverbial suffix [ly] to adjectives, it becomes equivalent to the Korean adverbial endings [이, 히, 기, 게]. For instance, by adding ~ly to the adjective kind, meaning ‘kind,’ it becomes “kindly,” which means ‘kindly.’ There are exceptions when converting adjectives to adverbs due to spelling or pronunciation issues. For example, for adjectives like noble (noble), possible (possible), humble (humble), simple (honest) that already contain an l, simply removing the e and adding y is sufficient.
Another example includes adjectives ending in ~ic, such as historic (historical) and systematic (systematic), where adding ~ly can make pronunciation difficult. Thus, instead of ~ly, ~ally is added to form adverbs. This irregular formation is not arbitrary but rather a solution to pronunciation issues.
- Add prepositions to noun to make in an adverbs.
Another way to form adverbs is by using prepositions. Specifically, placing “with” before a noun can create an adverb that suggests “having” or “using.”
Sam Wheat: It’s amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you. (Ghost, 1990)
Alberto Aragon: Just because I talk with an accent doesn’t mean I think with an accent. (A Walk in the Clouds)
KNUTE ROCKNE: Tell ’em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper. (KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN: 1940)
’em’ is a colloquial abbreviation for ‘them,’ often used in speech by many Americans, omitting the ‘th’ sound.
Hannibal Lecter: A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: 1991)
The preposition “with,” especially when used with abstract nouns, forms useful idiomatic expressions like with difficulty (difficultly), with care (carefully), with ease (easily).
PAUL: And our bodies are earth. And our thoughts are clay. And we sleep and eat with death. (ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1930)
Translated directly, “with death” means ‘together with death,’ but can be interpreted as ‘risking one’s life.’
Helper preposition “by”: “by” is used in passive sentences to indicate the agent with the meaning of “by means of,” for location as “beside,” for time as “by the time,” and for tools or means as “with.” This encompasses the concept of ‘by means of’ or ‘with the help of.’
John Keating: Oh Captain, my captain. Who knows where that came from? Anybody? Not a clue? It’s from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. (Dead Poets Society)
‘poem by Walt Whitman’ indicates that Walt Whitman is the author of the poem, meaning it was created ‘by’ Whitman. Let’s hear more from Mr. Keating.
John Keating: You are not an indentured servant! It’s not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion! (Dead Poets Society)
When Neil seeks advice from Mr. Keating after his father forbids him from acting, Mr. Keating advises that if acting is not merely a whim for Neil, he must prove it through his conviction and passion.
Prepositions for materials: “of,” “from,” “in”: These three prepositions can all be used to express the material something is made “from.” Let’s examine their differences. “Of” is used in expressions like “made of” when the material does not change into another substance, signifying a sense of belonging that does not easily change.
SAM SPADE: The stuff that dreams are made of. (THE MALTESE FALCON: 1941)
Conversely, “from” is used with the meaning of ‘originating from.’ When used with materials, “from” fits expressions like “made from,” thus we can refer to it as the preposition of source technology. It’s used when something is made or starts “from” a material but the outcome is entirely different.
Cholla, Black Widow Leader: Why me Lord? Other men you made from clay. Mine you made from shit. (Any Which Way You Can – 1980)
Moreover, “in” can be thought of as the preposition for materials used in creative tasks like writing, speaking, painting, carving, etc.
Narrator: Unaware of what year it was, Joe wandered the streets desperate for help. But the English language had deteriorated into a hybrid of hillbilly, valley girl, inner-city slang and various grunts. Joe was able to understand them, but when he spoke in an ordinary voice, he sounded pompous and faggy to them. (Idiocracy, 2006)
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