In the sentence 'Tom ran rapidly across the field,' which word is an adverb?

In the sentence 'Tom ran rapidly across the field,' which word is an adverb?

• A. Rapidly
• B. Tom
• C. Across
• D. Field

Answer: (A)

Adverbs tell how an action is performed, and in this sentence the word that answers that question is rapidly, because it directly modifies the verb ran and explains how Tom ran. The other words aren’t describing the action in that way: Tom is a noun serving as the subject; across begins a prepositional phrase “across the field” that gives direction, and field is a noun. Adverbs often end in -ly, which helps identify rapidly as the adverb here.

Adverbs tell how an action is performed, and in this sentence the word that answers that question is rapidly, because it directly modifies the verb ran and explains how Tom ran. The other words aren’t describing the action in that way: Tom is a noun serving as the subject; across begins a prepositional phrase “across the field” that gives direction, and field is a noun. Adverbs often end in -ly, which helps identify rapidly as the adverb here.