The masked villain silently laughed while watching the hero struggle to escape.
Which of the following parts of speech is the word “silently” in the previous sentence?
A.
Preposition
B.
Adverb
C.
Verb
D.
Adjective
The Correct answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is B. Adverb.
In the sentence, the word “silently” is an adverb because it modifies the verb “laughed”, describing how the villain laughed. Adverbs often modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to give more information about time, manner, place, frequency, or degree. Here, “silently” tells us the manner in which the action of laughing occurred.
Explanation:
Parts of Speech Overview:
- Prepositions (Choice A) show relationships between words in a sentence, usually in terms of time, place, or direction (e.g., “in,” “on,” “under”). “Silently” is not a preposition because it doesn’t show a relationship but instead describes an action.
- Verbs (Choice C) are action or state-of-being words (e.g., “run,” “is”). The verb in this sentence is “laughed,” not “silently.” Therefore, “silently” cannot be a verb.
- Adjectives (Choice D) describe or modify nouns (e.g., “beautiful,” “fast”). Adjectives answer questions like “What kind?” or “Which one?” In this case, “silently” is not describing a noun but modifying the verb, so it’s not an adjective.
Adverbs (Choice B) describe how, when, where, or to what extent an action is performed. In this sentence, “silently” is explaining how the villain laughed. It’s telling us the manner in which the villain is laughing — quietly or without sound. This is a key function of adverbs.
Adverbs often end in “-ly”, though not always (e.g., “well,” “fast”). In this case, the “-ly” suffix is a good indicator that “silently” is an adverb. Thus, “silently” is correctly identified as an adverb because it modifies the verb “laughed.”