How to Use Relative Adverbs

Like most parts of speech, the relative adverb sounds more complicated than it is. You can identify a relative adverb by its context in a relative clause. Also, there are just a few common relative adverbs used. Here are ways to use relative adverbs in sentences.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Find the common words that function as relative adverbs. "Where," "when" and "why" are the big three, and sometimes "in which" is used.

2. Use the relative adverb after the noun in a clause. Here is a common example. "This is the shop WHERE I bought the jacket."

3. Utilize relative adverbs with inanimate subjects. With people as your subject, your sentence will have a relative pronoun (who) instead of a relative adverb.

4. End your sentence after your relative clause. Run-on sentences are a problem you can avoid by keeping your sentences short and to the point.

5. Vary sentence structure. Use relative adverbs once in a while. Add other kinds of sentences into your writing. The education system values your ability to write with different sentence types, and you should practice this often if you want to be a good writer.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't start a sentence with a relative adverb, this is a really common mistake. Students want to put a period after the noun and capitalize the relative adverb. For example, "Here is the store. Where I bought the jacket." This should just be one sentence.

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