An adverbial phrase is a linguistic term for a group of two or more words operating adverbially, when viewed in terms of their syntactic function. Adverbial phrases ("AdvP" insyntactic trees) are phrases that do the work of an adverb in a sentence. They, like adverbs, can describe:
- Time (answers the question 'When?')
- She will be arriving in a short time.
- Place (answers the question 'Where?')
- He is waiting near the wall.
- Manner (answers the question 'How?')
- They are discussing the matter in a civilized way.
- Compare the following sentences:
- I'll go to bed soon.
- I'll go to bed in an hour.
- I'll go to bed when I've finished my book.
In the first, soon is an adverb (as distinct from a noun or verb), and it is an adverbial (as distinct from a subject or object). Clearly, in the second sentence, in an hour has the same syntactic function, though it does not contain an adverb; therefore, a prepositional phrase consisting of a preposition and a noun (preceded by its article) can function as an adverbial and is called an adverbial phrase. In the third sentence, we see a whole clause functioning as an adverbial; it is termed an adverbial clause.
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