When we do something – walking, studying, swimming, and so on – we usually follow a process. Details about the process are provided by process adjuncts through the four members of its family – manner adjunct, means adjunct, instrument adjunct, and agent adjunct – each providing a different type of detail for our sentences.
We cover the first in this post. For the other three, refer to the post on means, instrument, and agent adjuncts.
What are manner adjuncts?
Also called manner adverbials, manner adjuncts provide information about the manner in which a task is performed. They come mainly in the form of adverb and prepositional phrase, but can also come as noun phrase and adverb clause.
Examples of manner adjuncts
Here are some examples of manner adjuncts, categorized under the form they take:
(Comments are in [square brackets])
Adverb as manner adjunct
1. Listen to someone attentively to flatter them. [In attentive manner]
2. Right from the beginning, we had an obsessive desire to make our customers happy, and it has worked beautifully. [In beautiful manner]
3. Most business models will directly or indirectly depend on traffic for their revenue. [In direct or indirect manner]
Prepositional phrase as manner adjunct
4. Employees who have resigned or have been asked to leave should be treated with politeness and respect, helped with all the leaving formalities, and even assisted in finding the next job. [In polite and respectful manner]
5. Then he decided to cycle in relaxed manner, enjoying the ocean and surroundings on the way. [In relaxed manner]
6. The data revealed our shortcomings in a way we hadn’t imagined. [In a manner we hadn’t imagined]
7. He hits forehands like Nadal. [In the manner of Nadal]
8. You’ll find only few who praise sincerely without any ulterior motives. [Adverb/ Prepositional phrase. In sincere manner and in manner without ulterior motive]
In the fourth example, we can replace with politeness and respect (prepositional phrase) with politely and respectfully (adverb). Which is preferred? Where a prepositional phrase can be replaced by an adverb, we prefer adverb for its conciseness. In fifth, it’s difficult to find a direct adverb replacement, so prepositional phrase is fine.
Also note that the prepositional phrase starting with like (#7) provides comparative manner, a feature shared by adverb clause (coming later).
Noun phrase as manner adjunct
Noun phrases as manner adjuncts usually have way, manner, or style as their head noun. These noun phrases can also be written as prepositional phrases starting with in.
9. I’ve had breakfast the same way for years. [In the same manner]
10. He moved around the court the way that reminded me of Roger Federer. [In the manner of Roger Federer. If converted into prepositional phrase, the will be replaced by a]
11. They cook Māori style. [In Māori manner]
Adverb clause as manner adjunct
Like the prepositional phrase starting with like, an adverb clause doesn’t create its own manner. It provides a comparative manner: It takes a manner and imposes it on to someone or something. Adverb clauses starting with as if and as though (#14 and #15), particularly, bring out comparisons with unreal situations.
12. Just as most teaching methods work till they are implemented in the classroom, most positive thoughts work till they don’t meet negative thoughts. [Positive thoughts don’t work in the same manner as teaching methods]
13. The students practiced as the teacher told them to. [In the manner told by teacher]
14. While climbing, we focused on each step as if nothing else existed. [In the manner as if nothing else existed]
15. He behaves as though he owns the company. [In the manner as though he owns the company]
In the above examples, you can see that each adjunct (underlined) answers the question in what manner. In the first, for example, attentively answers the question In what manner should you listen to someone to flatter them?
Position of manner adjuncts
Manner adjuncts usually occupy the end position but may appear elsewhere.
In this post, we covered manner adjuncts, which come in the form of adverb, prepositional phrase, noun phrase, and adverb clause. When they come as adverb, they’re called adverb of manner. In other words, adverb of manner is a subset of manner adjunct.
