Unsure? Use An Adverb.

As our new adverb song notes, adverbs can provide more detail about the verbs in your sentence. How did you eat at Thanksgiving? You ate ravenously. How did you trip on stage at the talent show? You tripped clumsily. But sometimes, adverbs actually do the opposite. Many writers use adverbs as a crutch when they aren’t exactly sure about what they’re saying.

Take this article from this morning’s New York Times:

The writer can’t assuredly say that Romney won, so he uses adverbs to hedge. (He also rhymes a little, channeling his buddies over at Flocab). When it comes to crimes, the adverb “allegedly” is constantly used to make sure that the author is letting the (alleged) SpongeBob criminal remain innocent until proven guilty:

Mini Lesson Plan

1. Review the idea of adverbs can make writing seem less sure. Sometimes that is a good thing, when you are reporting something that isn’t clear. But sometimes it is bad, when it weakens writing for no reason.

Present this list of hedging adverbs:
probably
possibly
perhaps
maybe
apparently
seemingly
presumably
conceivably
allegedly

2. Ask students to add any other adverbs they can think of that show that you aren’t sure.

3. Using either a newspaper or online newspaper, have students search through articles looking for these unsure adverbs. When they find one, have students consider and explain why the writer is using it.

4. Remind students to only use these adverbs in their writing if they aren’t sure of something. Otherwise, get rid of them!

Share any examples of hedging adverbs in the comments.

Did you enjoy the Adverbs song? Use Flocabulary’s 16 other grammar songs to teach grammatical concepts from nouns and verbs to transitions and synonyms.