We (Edith Hope Fine and Judith Josephson) are the Grammar Patrol. Both of us taught for years and are now writers, with thirty plus books between us, including our two popular grammar guides, Nitty-Gritty Grammar and More Nitty-Gritty Grammar (Ten Speed Press/Random House). Both books are available as ebooks. For close to twenty years, we taught writing and grammar basics and now we blog about grammar for writers.
You need to pack a clear understanding of adverbs in your writer’s toolkit. Don’t use an adverb when a powerful verb can do the job. Bag adverbs completely? They do have their useful purpose, as in “The bobcat crept soundlessly toward the plump rabbit.”
Verbs are the engines that power your sentences. Strong verbs create images in your mind and tighten your writing. In these two sentence pairs, which of the two sentences creates the stronger image?
The couple walked slowly.
The couple strolled. [“strolled” is a strong verb]
Angrily Terry left the room.
Terry stomped from the room. [“stomped” is a strong verb]
This doesn’t mean you’ll never use adverbs again—but treat them like gold, used in the perfect spot. (As for “suddenly,” some writers put that on their forbidden list along with the vague “very,” “little,” and “beautiful.”)
