EL P1 Formal Letter Adverbial Phrases

1 Name:____________________________ ( ) Date:________ Sec _________ 1. Adverbial Phrase An adverbial phrase is a group of words that functions as an adverb. You can use it to elaborate on your formal letter. Adverbial phrase of time An adverbial phrase of time states when something happens or how often. For example:  I'll do it in a minute.  After the game, the king and pawn go into the same box. (Italian Proverb)  Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day. (Albert Camus) Adverbial Phrase of place An adverbial phrase of place states where something happens. For example:  I used to work in a fire-hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place. (Steven Wright)  Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings. (Ed Gardner) Adverbial Phrase of reason An adverbial phrase of reason states why something is done. For example:  He went to the island to find gold.  He plays up to impress his class mates.  We tell ourselves stories in order to live. (Author Joan Didion) The format of Adverbial Phrase An adverbial phrase of reason states why something is done. For example:  He went to the island to find gold.  He plays up to impress his class mates.  We tell ourselves stories in order to live. (Author Joan Didion) Here are three common formats for adverbial phrases:  Prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is headed by a preposition. (e.g., "in," "on," "near," "by," "with"). For example:  He was standing in the corner.  She is winning without trying.  Infinitive phrase. An infinitive phrase is headed by an infinitive verb. (e.g., "to play," "to jump"). For example:  She went to Florence to paint.  Fill in this form to join our club.  An adverb with an intensifier. An adverb with an intensifier. (e.g., "very," "extremely," "really") is also an adverbial phrase. For example:  He answered you very quickly.  She danced extremely beautifully. There are, of course, other formats. For example:  We arrived a day later than expected.  I paid him every week. If you have a group of words that is functioning as an adverb and that doesn't feature a subject and a verb (meaning it's not an adverbial clause), then you're looking at an adverbial phrase.

2 Why Should I Care about Adverbial Phrases? Here are four good reasons to think more carefully about adverbial phrases. (Reason 1) Be careful not to create a misplaced modifier. A misplaced modifier is a word (or group of words) that does not link clearly to what it is intended to modify. A misplaced modifier makes the meaning of a sentence ambiguous or wrong. Look at this example:  Jack, coax the monkey with the banana. (The shaded text is a misplaced modifier. It is meant to be an adverbial phrase modifying the verb "coax." It is supposed to tell Jack how to coax the monkey. However, the shaded text could feasibly be an adjective phrase describing the monkey, telling Jack which monkey to coax.)  Jack, use the banana to coax the monkey. (Often, rewording is best. This corrected example does not feature an adverbial phrase.) Here is an example from the film "Hot Fuzz":  "He was a hero at his last police station. He once shot a robber with a Kalashnikov." "Great, where did he get that?" "No, the robber had the Kalashnikov." (The shaded text is a misplaced modifier. It is meant to be an adverbial phrase modifying the verb "shot." However, it was taken to be an adjective phrase describing the robber.) (Reason 2) Use commas correctly with your adverbial clauses. When your adverbial phrase (or clause for that matter) is at the front of your sentence, it is known as a "fronted adverbial." Fronted adverbials are offset with a comma. For example:  At 4 o'clock, open the gates.  In the middle of New York, temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit. When your adverbial clause is at the back, the tendency is to omit the comma. For example:  Open the gates at 4 o'clock.  Temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of New York. Here are examples with adverbial phrases at both ends:  In July 1936, temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of New York.  In the middle of New York, temperatures reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit In July 1936. (Reason 3) Save two words by writing "to" instead of "in order to." To reduce your word count, you can usually replace "in order to" with "to" without any loss of meaning.  The mountaineers spent two months with the air-sea rescue team in order to gain experience. Even though it adds to your word count, you should not delete "in order" every time. Using "in order to" makes it clear that the text that follows is the reason for performing the action. (It's like using "so as to.") Using just "to" runs the risk of creating a misplaced modifier. Look at this example:  Jack designed a device in order to find underground water. (With "in order" deleted, we're now unsure whether Jack designed an underwater-water finder (i.e., "to find underground water" is an adjective describing "device") or whether he designed a device that can be used to detect underground water as per his intention (i.e., "to find underground water" is an adverb modifying "designed"). With "in order to," that ambiguity disappears. It can only be the latter. Get it?) There's another advantage to using "in order to." It puts a little more emphasis on the reason for the action. So, save two words if you need to, but be careful not to create a misplaced modifier. (Reason 4) Delete your intensifier, unless you really need it. When writing formally, the level of intensity should be achieved through word choice (e.g., by using strong adjectives instead of intensifiers). Using intensifiers is widely considered as lazy writing.  She was very angry.

3 (This is considered as lazy writing.)  She was livid. (There is no need for an intensifier with a strong adjective like "livid.") This quotation captures why you should use intensifiers sparingly. 1. If everything is very important, then nothing is important. (Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney) 2. Reading article (Home based learning can be an opportunity to rethink parenting) Identify the adverbial phrases (reason, place and time) and submit to your EL teacher. Parents can reclaim their roles as the main purveyor and steward of our child’s education and well-being, instead of outsourcing it to schools and teachers as many have done, says Cherie Tseng. We saw the writing on the wall, or we should have, when several weeks into DORSCON Orange, centre-based tuition and enrichment classes had to be suspended in order to reduce intermingling of students from different schools. (reason) This wave of precautionary measures was met with relief and praise from some and slight panic from others as enrichment centres had to make a quick transition from classroom-based lessons to online ones: Music lessons over FaceTime, ballet coaching over Zoom. Despite these efforts, the situation didn't bate and the Ministry of Education announced that they were going to institute home-based learning (HBL) for all students. In the weekend that followed, (Time) all hell would break loose. Crazy queues formed all over the place. A mad scramble to stock up on assessment books at Popular Bookstore to board game buying sprees at Toys R Us. Over at Challenger stores nationwide (Place), tablets became the new toilet paper and laptops the new rice. That first day (Time), social media was rife with photos of children at laptops and tablets; small, eager, earnest faces, each working on a liturgy of tasks vis-a-vis their Student Learning Space (SLS) and on pre-assigned worksheets. Invariably, along with the pat-on-the-back posts, came the rants on how HBL was too disruptive, too exhausting for parents who have their own work to do. Some even mused that teachers must be having a relaxing day off now that parents have taken over for the day. As the natio