Adverbial phrase

In linguistics, an adverbial phrase ("AdvP") is a multi-word expression operating adverbially: its syntactic function is to modify other expressions, including verbs, adjectives, adverbs, adverbials, and sentences. Adverbial phrases can be divided into two types: complement adverbs and modifier adverbs.^[1] For example, in the sentence She sang very well, the expression very well is an adverbial phrase, as it modifies the verb to sing.^[1] More specifically, the adverbial phrase very well contains two adverbs, very and well: while well modifies the verb to convey information about the manner of singing (for example, She sang well versus She sang badly), very is a degree modifier that conveys information about the degree to which the action of singing well was accomplished (for example, Not only did she sing well, she sang very well).

^ ^a ^b Pullum, Geoffrey; Huddleston, Rodney (2005). A student's introductions to English grammar (PDF) (3. printing. ed.). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780521612883. Retrieved 6 December 2017.

[Pullum-1] Pullum, Geoffrey; Huddleston, Rodney (2005). A student's introductions to English grammar (PDF) (3. printing. ed.). Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780521612883. Retrieved 6 December 2017.

[1]