Comparative adverbs and superlative adverbs are explained in the section beginning at paragraph 6.30.
The noun phrases a bit, a great deal, a little, and a lot are also used as adverbs of degree.
I don’t like this a bit.
The situation’s changed a great deal since then.
Adverbs of place
6.53 Adverbs are also used after verbs to give information about place.
No birds or animals came near.
Seagulls were circling overhead.
In many cases the same word can be used as a preposition and as an adverb.
The limb was severed below the elbow.
This information is summarized below.
adverbs showing position
6.54 Here is a list of words that are used as adverbs to show position. Note that some adverbs consist of more than one word, for example, out of doors.
abroad
ahead
aloft
ashore
away
close to
downstairs
downstream
downtown
downwind
eastward
halfway
here
indoors
inland
midway
nearby
next door
northward
offshore
outdoors
out of doors
overhead
overseas
southward
there
underfoot
underground
underwater
upstairs
upstream
uptown
upwind
westward
yonder (American)
The common adverbs of place that are used as adverbs and as prepositions are sometimes called adverb particles or adverbial particles. The following words are used as adverbs to show position, and can also be used as prepositions:
aboard
about
above
alongside
behind
below
beneath
beside
beyond
close by
down
in
in between
inside
near
off
opposite
outside
over
round
throughout
underneath
up
6.55 An adverb can be used alone after a verb to show place or direction.
The young men hated working underground.
The engine droned on as we flew northward.
You can also use an adverb showing place or direction when it is clear from the context what place or direction you are referring to. For example, you may have mentioned the place earlier, or the adverb may refer to your own location, or to the location of the person or thing being talked about.
He moved to Portugal, and it was there where he learnt to do the samba.
She walked away and my mother stood in the middle of the road, watching.
They spent the autumn of 1855 in Japan. It was here that Hilary wrote her first novel.
6.56 A few adverbs of position are used to show the area in which a situation exists:
globally
internationally
locally
nationally
universally
widely
worldwide
Everything we used was bought locally.
Unlike most other adverbs of position, they cannot be used after be to state the position of something.
6.57 A few other adverbs are used to show where two or more people or things are in relation to each other: together, apart, side by side and abreast.
All the villagers and visitors would sit together round the fire.
A figure stood at the window holding the curtains apart.
adverbs of position with a following adverbial
6.58 Some adverbs of position are normally followed by another adverbial of position. This is particularly common when the verb be is used as a main verb.
Barbara’s down at the cottage.
Adam was halfway up the stairs.
Out on the quiet surface of the river, something moved.
She is up in her own bedroom.
deep, far, high, low
6.59 The adverbs deep, far, high, and low, which indicate distance as well as position, are also usually followed by another adverbial of position, or are modified or qualified in some other way.
Many of the eggs remain buried deep among the sand grains.
One plane, flying very low, swept back and forth.
Deep down, far away, high up, and low down are often used instead of the adverbs on their own.
The window was high up, miles above the rocks.
Sita scraped a shallow cavity low down in the wall.
Far and far away are often qualified by a prepositional phrase beginning with from.
I was standing far away from the ball.
We lived far from the nearest village.
adverbs of position: comparatives and superlatives
6.60 Some adverbs have comparative and superlative forms. The superlative form is not used to show position, but to specify which of several things you are talking about.
Deeper, further (or farther), higher, and lower are usually followed by a prepositional phrase showing position.
Further along the beach, a thin trickle of smoke was climbing into the sky.
The beans are a bit higher on the stalk this year.
Nearer can be used as an adverb as well as a preposition (see paragraph 6.88). Closer can only be used as an adverb.
The hills were nearer now.
Thousands of tourists stood watching or milled around trying to get closer.
anywhere, everywhere, somewhere, nowhere
6.61 There are four indefinite adverbs of position: anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, and somewhere. They are used to talk about a position that is not definite or that is very general.
I dropped my cigar somewhere round here.
I thought I’d seen you somewhere.
There were bicycles everywhere.