What is it that thus modifies or
changes the meaning of the verb _excels_? You perceive that it is the
little word _not_. This word has power to reverse the meaning of the
sentence. _Not_, then, is a modifier, qualifier, or negative adverb.
When an adverb is used to modify the sense of a verb or participle, it
generally expresses the manner, time, or place, in which the action is
performed, or some accidental circumstance respecting it. In the
phrases, The man rides _gracefully, awkwardly_, _badly, swiftly,
slowly_, &c.; or, I saw the man riding _swiftly, slowly, leisurely, very
fast_, &c., you perceive that the words _gracefully, awkwardly, very
fast_, &c., are adverbs, qualifying the verb _rides_, or the participle
_riding_, because they express the _manner_ in which the action denoted
by the verb and participle, is done.
In the phrases, The man rides _daily, weekly, seldom, frequently, often,
sometimes, never_; or, The man rode _yesterday, heretofore, long since,
long ago, recently, lately, just now_ or, The man will ride _soon,
presently, directly, immediately, by and by, to-day, hereafter_, you
perceive that all these words in _italics_, are adverbs, qualifying the
meaning of the verb, rides, because they express the _time_ of the
action denoted by the verb.
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