Question

Identify the word which the adverb modifies :
The water was extremely cold.
a) Water
b) Cold
c) Extremely
d) Was

Answer 1

Hint: Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and sometimes other adverbs in a sentence. For example He sings loudly. Here, loudly is an adverb.

Complete answer:
An adverb is a word that describes a verb(sings loudly), an adjective(very tall), another adverb (ended too quickly), or even a whole sentence. Adverbs often end with -ly, but some look exactly the same as their adjective counterparts (fast). Here, we have to find out the word which the adverb modifies.
Let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer:
Option ‘a' is Water. It is a noun. This cannot be the modifier as it is not modifying any adverb in the given sentence. So this cannot be the correct option.
Option ‘b’ is Cold. It is an adjective. Cold is not a modifier, but the word modifying it is. So, this is also an incorrect option.
Option ‘c’ is Extremely. It is an adverb and it is also modifying “cold”. So, this is the correct option.
Option ‘d’ is Was. It is a helping verb and cannot be a modifier.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can clearly figure out the correct answer. In the given question, the sentence is – The water is extremely cold. The modifier of this sentence is – Extremely. So, the correct answer is “Option c”.

Note:
Don’t get confused between “extremely” and “cold”. We are asked for an adverb modifier, “extremely” is an adverb whereas “cold” is an adjective.