| adverbial adjunct |
| Definition -
Any word, phrase, or clause that modifies a verb or a verb phrase.
Notes: 1. It establishes the circumstances in which the verb's action or state take place. 2. They are called adjuncts because they can be removed and the sentence remains well-formed. 3. If the adverbial is a necessary sentence element (i.e., you remove it and the sentence ceases to be well-formed), then it is an adverbial complement. |
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Example - Yesterday Bob saw a zebra in the lane. (Here yesterday and in the lane modify the verb saw.) |
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Oxford English Dictionary - The term's first citation is from 1881: "The basis and type of the Adverbial Adjunct is a substantive in an oblique case, used to limit or define the signification of a verb or adjective." (Mason Eng. Gram. 149) |