Year 4 English: Fronted adverbials of manner: how
Part of the Year 4 English fronted adverbials and connecting words chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
Fronted adverbials of manner: how
A manner adverbial tells how something is done. It can be a single word ending in -ly, such as Gently or Quickly. It can also be a phrase, such as With great care, In a loud voice or Like a cat.
A word such as Later or Soon tells when, not how. Ask the question to decide.
| Pattern | Example at the start | Question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| an adverb ending in -ly | Gently, the baby woke up. | How? |
| with + noun phrase | With great care, the potter lifted the bowl. | How? |
| in a + noun phrase | In a loud voice, the captain called the team. | How? |
| like + noun phrase | Like a cat, Tom crept across the floor. | How? |
Key ideas
- A manner adverbial tells how something is done: gently, quickly, with great care, like a cat.
- Many manner adverbials end in -ly, but some are phrases of several words.
- Later and soon tell when, so they are time adverbials, not manner adverbials.
- A manner adverbial at the start is followed by a comma.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.Gently the old dog lifted its head.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.Gently,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.Gently
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. Gently
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.With great care the potter lifted the bowl.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.With great care,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.With great care
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. With great care
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Ask a question about the fronted adverbial.
- Find the fronted adverbial. It is the words before the comma.Like a cat,
- Ask the question it answers. Ask when, where or how the thing happened.How did it happen?
- Choose the word. The answer is how, so this adverbial tells how, which is a manner.how = manner
- Write the answer. how
Check. The word how answers the question. ✓
Watch out. Decide from the question the adverbial answers, not from the first word.
Watch out
Watch out: a phrase such as With great care is one fronted adverbial, even though it has three words. Put the comma after the whole phrase: With great care, the potter lifted the bowl.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to act out a way of moving, for example tiptoeing or hopping. Then ask: how did you move? That answer is a manner adverbial.
Exercise 6C Practice: how something is done
Method. Ask a question about the fronted adverbial.
- Find the fronted adverbial. It is the words before the comma.Quietly,
- Ask the question it answers. Ask when, where or how the thing happened.How did it happen?
- Choose the word. The answer is how, so this adverbial tells how, which is a manner.how = manner
- Write the answer. how
Check. The word how answers the question. ✓
Watch out. Decide from the question the adverbial answers, not from the first word.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.Carefully the nurse wrapped the bandage.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.Carefully,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.Carefully
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. Carefully
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.With grace the dancer turned.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.With grace,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.With grace
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. With grace
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Ask a question about the fronted adverbial.
- Find the fronted adverbial. It is the words before the comma.One step at a time,
- Ask the question it answers. Ask when, where or how the thing happened.How did it happen?
- Choose the word. The answer is how, so this adverbial tells how, which is a manner.how = manner
- Write the answer. how
Check. The word how answers the question. ✓
Watch out. Decide from the question the adverbial answers, not from the first word.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.Quickly Oliver grabbed his coat.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.Quickly,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.Quickly
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. Quickly
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.Like a lion the cat stretched in the sun.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.Like a lion,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.Like a lion
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. Like a lion
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Find the words at the start that come before the comma.
- Look at the start of the sentence. A fronted adverbial comes first in the sentence.In a soft whisper Grandma sang the song.
- Find the comma. The words before the comma are the fronted adverbial.In a soft whisper,
- Copy the words before the comma. Copy only these words, not the main clause after the comma.In a soft whisper
- Check its type. It answers the question about manner, so it tells how.tells how
- Write the answer. In a soft whisper
Check. Read the sentence aloud: the words before the comma are the adverbial. ✓
Watch out. Copy only the words before the comma, not the main clause after it.
Method. Ask when or how for each word.
- Ask when. Later answers when, so it is a time adverbial.Later: when
- Ask how. Quietly answers how, so it is a manner adverbial.Quietly: how
- Write the answer. Quietly
Check. Quietly describes how something is done. ✓
Watch out. Quietly ends in -ly, but the -ly ending alone does not decide the type: ask the question.
Method. Move the adverbial to the front, then add its comma.
- Find the adverbial at the end. with a wooden spoon tells manner, so it can move to the front.with a wooden spoon
- Move it to the start. A fronted adverbial starts the sentence, with a capital letter.With a wooden spoon
- Add the comma and the main clause. The comma goes after the adverbial. The main clause keeps its words.With a wooden spoon, the cook stirred the soup.
- Write the answer. With a wooden spoon, the cook stirred the soup.
Check. Read it aloud: the adverbial, a pause, then the main clause. ✓
Watch out. When the adverbial moves to the front, its first letter needs a capital.
Method. Use a like phrase to describe how someone moves.
- Choose a like phrase. Like a rabbit tells how the child moved.Like a rabbit
- Add the comma and the main clause. The comma follows the whole phrase, then the main clause.Like a rabbit, the child hopped to the door.
- Write the answer. Like a rabbit, the child hopped to the door.
Check. The phrase tells how the child moved. ✓
Watch out. Make sure the phrase describes how, not when or where.
Method. Ask a question about the fronted adverbial.
- Find the fronted adverbial. It is the words before the comma.Slowly and neatly,
- Ask the question it answers. Ask when, where or how the thing happened.How did it happen?
- Choose the word. The answer is how, so this adverbial tells how, which is a manner.how = manner
- Write the answer. how
Check. The word how answers the question. ✓
Watch out. Decide from the question the adverbial answers, not from the first word.
Method. Ask the question that Later answers.
- Ask a question. When did the bell ring? Later.Later
- Choose the type. It answers when, so it is not a manner adverbial.when
- Write the answer. No. Later tells when, so it is a time adverbial
Check. Later answers when. ✓
Watch out. Later and soon are time words, even though they are short.
Method. Ask the question that soon answers.
- Ask a question. When did the rain stop? Soon.Soon
- Compare with how. Soon does not describe the way the rain stopped, so it is not manner.not how
- Write the answer. soon tells when the rain stopped, not the way it happened
Check. Soon answers when. ✓
Watch out. Ask the question first, then choose the type.