TSA CBT Practice Test

What part of speech does an adverb modify?

1. Only nouns

2. Nouns and pronouns

3. Verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

4. Only adjectives

The correct answer is: Verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

An adverb primarily modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. This flexibility allows adverbs to provide additional context about how an action is performed (modifying the verb), to what extent or in what manner a quality is expressed (modifying adjectives), or to clarify the degree of another adverb. For instance, in the sentence "She runs quickly," the adverb "quickly" modifies the verb "runs" to indicate how she runs. Similarly, in "He is exceptionally tall," "exceptionally" modifies the adjective "tall" to describe the extent of his height. This versatility is what clearly distinguishes adverbs within the realm of parts of speech.