50 Adverb MCQ Questions for NDA English | Previous Year Pattern

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Inversion with Negative Adverbs. When a sentence begins with a negative or restrictive adverb like ‘Scarcely’, ‘Hardly’, ‘Seldom’, or ‘Rarely’, the subject-verb order must be inverted (auxiliary verb comes before the subject). Change ‘Scarcely I had arrived’ to ‘Scarcely had I arrived’.

Correct Answer: (c)

Rule: Correlative Conjunction with Hardly/Scarcely. ‘Hardly’ and ‘Scarcely’ are strictly followed by the connector ‘when’ (or ‘before’) to link the subsequent clause. The conjunction ‘than’ is used exclusively with ‘No sooner’. Change ‘than’ to ‘when’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Correlative Conjunction with No Sooner. The comparative adverb phrase ‘No sooner’ introduces a comparative timeline context and must always be paired with the conjunction ‘than’. Replacing it with ‘when’ is a common error. Change ‘when’ to ‘than’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Post-position of ‘Enough’ with Adjectives. When the word ‘enough’ acts as an adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb, it must always be placed **after** the word it modifies. Change ‘enough wise’ to ‘wise enough’. *(Note: ‘Enough’ precedes nouns, e.g., ‘enough money’).*

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Positive Degree with ‘Enough’. The adverb ‘enough’ inherently limits a trait to its sufficient level. The adjective modified by ‘enough’ must always remain in its base Positive Degree. Change ‘more wiser enough’ to ‘wise enough’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Too vs Very negative bias. The intensifier ‘too’ implies a negative excess (meaning ‘more than is desirable or proper’) and is typically mismatched when magnifying an unreservedly positive quality like ‘interesting’ in a successful context. Use ‘very’ instead. Change ‘too interesting’ to ‘very interesting’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Too…to correlative. When a sentence sets up an infinitive phrase showing a negative result (‘to be true’ meaning it cannot be true), the intensifying adverb required is ‘too’, which combines to mean ‘excessively good, resulting in impossibility’. Change ‘very’ to ‘too’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Double Negatives. Restrictive adverbs like ‘seldom’, ‘hardly’, ‘scarcely’, ‘barely’, and ‘never’ possess an inherent negative value. Combining them with another negative particle (‘does not’) within a single clause creates an invalid double negative error. Remove ‘does not’ or replace ‘seldom’ with an affirmative word like ‘often’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Omission of ‘As’ with Appoint/Name/Call/Make. The adverb ‘as’ should not be used to introduce an object complement following verbs like ‘appoint’, ‘name’, ‘call’, ‘make’, ‘choose’, or ‘elect’. Change ‘appointed as’ to ‘appointed’. *(Note: ‘As’ is required with ‘regard’, ‘treat’, ‘define’, ‘view’).*

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Mandatory use of ‘As’ with ‘Regard’. Unlike ‘appoint’, the verb ‘regard’ (and also ‘treat’, ‘describe’, ‘define’, ‘portray’) strictly requires the adverb ‘as’ to link its object to the object complement. Change part (b) to ‘as my best companion’.

Correct Answer: (c)

Rule: Late vs Lately semantic domain. ‘Late’ refers to arriving after the expected time (the opposite of early). ‘Lately’ is a temporal adverb meaning ‘recently’ or ‘in recent times’, typically used in negative or interrogative present perfect sentences. Change ‘late’ to ‘lately’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Hard vs Hardly. ‘Hard’ means with great energy, intensity, or physical effort, and it comes after the verb. ‘Hardly’ means ‘scarcely’ or ‘almost not at all’ and precedes the verb. The context requires showing high effort. Change ‘worked hardly’ to ‘worked hard’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Placement of ‘Only’. The limiting adverb ‘only’ must always be placed **immediately before** the specific word or phrase it is intended to modify. Since it restricts the count value (‘two questions’), it must be placed directly before it. Change to ‘He solved only two questions’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Much too + Adjective vs Too much + Noun. The modifying structure ‘too much’ must be followed directly by a noun asset. To modify an adjective (‘challenging’), the adverbial configuration required is ‘much too’. Change ‘too much challenging’ to ‘much too challenging’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Quiet vs Quite. ‘Quiet’ is an adjective meaning silent or making no noise. The word needed to act as a degree adverb meaning ‘completely’ or ‘entirely’ is the adverb ‘quite’. Change ‘quiet’ to ‘quite’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Adverbial form of nouns ending in ‘-ly’. Words like ‘friendly’, ‘miserly’, ‘cowardly’, ‘manly’, and ‘orderly’ are **adjectives**, not adverbs, despite their ‘-ly’ endings. To modify an action verb (‘spoke’), they must be framed inside a phrase. Change ‘very friendly’ to ‘in a very friendly manner’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Redundancy with ‘The reason why’. The noun phrase ‘The reason why’ inherently sets up a causal relation. Following it with the adverbial conjunction ‘because’ creates a redundancy error. Use the noun clause connector ‘that’ instead. Change ‘because’ to ‘that’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Fixed Adverbial Phrases. The idiomatic phrase pairings are fixed: you must use either **’seldom if ever’** (meaning practically never) or **’seldom or never’**. Mixing them as ‘seldom or ever’ is ungrammatical. Change ‘seldom or ever’ to ‘seldom or never’ or ‘seldom if ever’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Non-existence of ‘Fastly’. The word ‘fast’ functions as both an adjective and an adverb depending on placement. The form ‘fastly’ does not exist in the English language. Change ‘very fastly’ to ‘very fast’.

Correct Answer: (d) No error

Rule: Direct vs Directly. ‘Direct’ as an adverb means taking a straight route without detours. ‘Directly’ means either immediately in time or without a middle agent. Since he went straight to the destination without stopping, ‘directly’ fits perfectly. The sentence has no error.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Adverb Order (M-P-T). When a sentence contains multiple adverbs modifying a verb, they must follow a strict sequential order: **Manner -> Place -> Time**. Here, the adverb of time (‘last night’) incorrectly precedes the adverb of manner (‘beautifully’). Change to ‘He sang beautifully (Manner) at the auditorium (Place) last night (Time)’.

Correct Answer: (d) No error

Rule: As…as vs So…as in Negative Sentences. While ‘as…as’ can be used in both affirmative and negative sentences, the structure ‘so…as’ is used **only in negative sentences**. In formal exams, ‘not as…as’ is fully accepted. The sentence contains no error.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Inversion with No Sooner. When a clause opens with the comparative negative adverb phrase ‘No sooner’, it strictly requires subject-verb inversion. Change to ‘No sooner had the commander issued instructions’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Restrictive Adverbs with Negative Noun Modifiers. Since ‘scarcely’ carries a negative meaning, modifying the noun with the negative adjective ‘no’ creates an incorrect double negative. Use an affirmative word like ‘any’ instead. Change ‘scarcely no food’ to ‘scarcely any food’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Until (Time) vs Unless (Condition). ‘Until’ is a temporal adverbial conjunction used to define a time limit. ‘Unless’ introduces a condition that must be met. Since working hard is a prerequisite condition rather than a timeline point, change ‘until’ to ‘unless’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: No negative words inside Until/Unless clauses. The conjunctions ‘unless’ and ‘until’ are negative words on their own. Adding a negative verb structure (‘do not’) inside their clause creates an invalid double negative error. Change part (a) to ‘Unless you hand over’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Too vs Much before base adjectives. The adverb ‘much’ cannot modify a positive degree adjective directly (you cannot say ‘much small’). When paired with a trailing ‘to-infinitive’ indicating a negative outcome, the required intensifier is ‘too’. Change ‘much small’ to ‘too small’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Inversion with ‘Not only’. When a sentence opens with the correlative adverb phrase ‘Not only’ modifying a clause, it must trigger subject-verb inversion. Change part (a) to ‘Not only did he complete the run’.

Correct Answer: (d) No error

Rule: Full Inversion with Locative Adverbials. When a sentence begins with an adverbial phrase of place (‘On the top of the hill’), full inversion occurs (the main verb ‘lived’ comes directly before the complete subject noun phrase). This is structurally correct.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Modal matching with Lest. The negative adverbial conjunction ‘lest’ means ‘for fear that’ or ‘to prevent’. Clauses introduced by ‘lest’ strictly require the modal auxiliary verb ‘should’, and they cannot contain negative words or other modals like ‘will’. Change ‘will’ to ‘should’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Fairly vs Rather. Both are adverbs of degree, but ‘fairly’ is used with positive, desirable qualities (fairly good, fairly intelligent). For negative, undesirable qualities like ‘difficult’, formal grammar requires the adverb ‘rather’. Change ‘fairly’ to ‘rather’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Relative Adverb Selection. ‘When’ refers to time antecedents. For a physical spatial antecedent (‘the academy ground’), the required relative adverb is ‘where’. Change ‘when’ to ‘where’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Adverbial Redundancy. The verb ‘return’ inherently means ‘to come back’ or ‘to go back’. Adding the adverb ‘back’ immediately after ‘returned’ creates a redundancy error. Remove ‘back’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Inversion with ‘Only + time expression’. When a sentence begins with an ‘Only’ phrase or clause modifying time (‘Only when…’), subject-verb inversion must occur in the **main clause** of the sentence. Change ‘the players stopped’ to ‘did the players stop’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: So + Adjective vs So much. The degree adverb ‘so’ modifies an adjective (‘difficult’) directly within the ‘so…that’ framework. Adding ‘much’ between ‘so’ and a base adjective is grammatically incorrect. Change ‘so much difficult’ to ‘so difficult’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Split Infinitive. Placing an adverb (‘carefully’) between the infinitive marker ‘to’ and the base verb (‘analyze’) creates a **Split Infinitive**. While common in casual speech, formal examinations prefer moving the adverb after the verb or clause object. Change to ‘to analyze the system files carefully’.

Correct Answer: (d) No error

Rule: Clean as an Adverb. In specific combinations with verbs of cutting or moving, ‘clean’ functions as an adverb meaning ‘completely’ or ‘entirely’. The phrase ‘cut clean’ is correct.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Position of Adverbs of Frequency. Adverbs of frequency (often, always, never, seldom) must be placed **before the main action verb** they modify. Change ‘He goes often’ to ‘He often goes’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Frequency Adverbs after ‘To Be’ verbs. While frequency adverbs precede normal action verbs, they must always be placed **after** auxiliary auxiliary verbs or forms of the verb ‘to be’ (am, is, are, was, were). Change ‘He always is’ to ‘He is always’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Else followed by But. The adverb ‘else’ has a fixed correlative partner and must always be followed by the conjunction ‘but’ instead of ‘than’. Change ‘than’ to ‘but’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Mostly vs Most. ‘Most’ is a superlative quantifier. To express a generalized generalization meaning ‘mainly’, ‘predominantly’, or ‘for the most part’, the correct adverb form is ‘mostly’. Change ‘most’ to ‘mostly’.

Correct Answer: (c)

Rule: Sentence Adverbs Position. Adverbs that modify an entire sentence state (like ‘fortunately’, ‘luckily’, ‘honestly’) are best placed at the **absolute beginning** of the sentence to set the narrative context. Change to ‘Fortunately, we managed to reach…’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Inversion with ‘Little’. When the negative/restrictive degree adverb ‘Little’ is placed at the front of a sentence to mean ‘not at all’, it must trigger subject-auxiliary inversion. Change ‘Little he realized’ to ‘Little did he realize’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Inversion with introductory negative phrases. When an absolute negative prepositional phrase like ‘Under no circumstances’ or ‘On no account’ starts a sentence, it must trigger inversion. Change ‘you are allowed’ to ‘are you allowed’.

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Rather followed by Than. The preference adverb ‘rather’ must always be paired with the comparative conjunction ‘than’ when introducing an alternative choice. Change ‘but’ to ‘than’.

Correct Answer: (a / b)

Rule: Redundancy. The verb ‘repeat’ means to say or do something again. Adding the adverb ‘again’ directly after the action creates a redundancy error. Remove ‘again’ from part (b).

Correct Answer: (b)

Rule: Like vs As. ‘Like’ is a preposition and must be followed by a noun object phrase without a verb. When introducing a full dependent clause containing a subject and a verb (‘a professional would have done’), you must use the adverbial conjunction ‘as’. Change ‘like’ to ‘as’.

Correct Answer: (a)

Rule: Too vs Very with positive adjectives. Unless the sentence sets up a ‘too…to’ barrier meaning ‘so glad that it causes a problem’ (which is rare with glad), using ‘too’ before a positive adjective expressing joy is ungrammatical. Use ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ instead. Change ‘too glad’ to ‘very glad’.

Correct Answer: (c)

Rule: Timely as an Adjective. Despite its ‘-ly’ ending, ‘timely’ is an adjective, not an adverb (e.g., ‘a timely intervention’). To modify an action verb (‘completes’) with this concept, you must use a phrase like ‘in a timely manner’ or use a standard adverb like ‘promptly’. Change ‘timely’ to ‘promptly’.

Correct Answer: (d) No error

Rule: Correct Inversion tracking. The restrictive frequency adverb ‘Seldom’ correctly opens the clause and accurately triggers subject-auxiliary inversion (‘have we witnessed’). The sentence contains no error.