Say exactly how

In A2 #15 an adverb answered the question "how?": slowly, carefully, well, hard. Now come three more details: how much (quite well, extremely carefully), compared with whom (more carefully than my brother) and where the adverb stands in the sentence.

Adverbs of degree — "how much". They stand before an adjective or another adverb and show how strong the feature is:

a bit is conversational and is almost always about something unpleasant: a bit cold, a bit expensive, a bit late. People don't usually say it about something good: instead of "a bit good" they say quite good.

quite in British English needs attention. With an ordinary adjective — good, big, tired, interesting — it means "fairly, moderately", often a little less than you expected: The film was quite good — it was a decent film, but you are not excited about it. With an adjective that is already "complete" — right, sure, true, impossible — quite means "completely": You're quite right — you are completely right. I'm not quite sure — I'm not completely sure. In American English quite good sounds warmer, almost "very good".

rather also means "fairly", but with the feeling "more than you would like" or "more than you expected": It's rather cold today. The exam was rather difficult. With a positive word rather shows a pleasant surprise: The food was rather good — the food turned out to be good, and you didn't expect it.

fairly is the calmest and weakest "fairly": I know him fairly well. pretty is a conversational "fairly": It's pretty expensive. Don't confuse it with the adjective pretty — nice to look at.

completely and totally most often go with a verb, before it: I completely forgot. — I forgot it totally, not even a little part stayed in my head. very, on the other hand, never goes with a verb: put really before the verb, or very much after the object: I really like this city, I like this city very much.

The comparison of adverbs. Adverbs are compared in the same way as adjectives (A2 #7). Long adverbs in -ly take more and most, short ones take endings:

Short adverbs without -ly — fast, hard, late, early, soon — get -er, like adjectives. early ends in -ly, but here it is not a suffix, it is part of the word, so earlier. well and badly are irregular — like good and bad.

You compare with than: She drives more carefully than her brother. Equality and inequality are as … as and not as … as, as with adjectives: He doesn't speak French as well as his wife.

After than and as people say me, him, her in conversation: She sings better than me. A little more careful is the form with a verb: than I do, as he does. Both are correct.

In conversation you often hear Can you speak slower? or Come quicker! — the short form instead of more slowly, more quickly. People say it, but in writing and in careful speech keep to more slowly.

The position of the adverb. An adverb has three places in the sentence, and the place changes the shade of meaning:

At the end of a sentence adverbs go in the order "how — where — when": She sang beautifully at the concert last night. An adverb of manner can also go in the middle, before the verb: He slowly opened the door — this sounds a little more literary. Opinion words go to the beginning: Luckily, Unfortunately, Surprisingly, Honestly — "it was lucky that", "it's a pity that", "it's surprising that", "to tell the truth". In writing they are followed by a comma.

The main ban stays from A1 #7 and A2 #15: an adverb doesn't go between the verb and its object. You say She speaks German well, not ✗ She speaks well German.

Compare pairs where two letters change the meaning:

hardly and lately are not adverbs made from hard and late, but separate words with their own meaning.

More examples:

Don't say this. ✗ The water wasn't enough warm → ✓ The water wasn't warm enough. enough goes after an adjective or an adverb (A2 #13): fast enough, well enough.

Check yourself. Someone is talking too fast for you. How do you ask them, politely, to change their speed? What does The hotel was quite good mean in British English? Where does well go in She speaks German?