Why “Never Use Adverbs” Is Bad Writing Advice

Let’s debunk this bad boy. Beyond the fact that “never” is an adverb, which is a fun little irony for you.

What IS an adverb?

An adverb is more than a word that modifies a verb — but it’s a good start. Adverbs areversatile little words that can modify anything except nouns. (Because if a word modifies a noun, it’s an adjective.)

Adverbs answer questions such as “How?” (manner of action) or“When?” (time and frequency) or “Where?” (place). Never and not are both adverbs, for example, but so ar...