The largest class of adjectival VP adverbials consists of manner adverbs, i.e. adverbs indicating the way in which the action expressed by the verb is performed. We give some examples in (51) together with their en doet dat ... paraphrases showing that they pass the VP-adverbial test.

A typical property of manner adverbs, related to their semantics, is that they can often be nominalized by the suffix -heid and then be modified by the PP van zijn handelenof his action, as in (52).

Section 28.3 has already shown that manner adverbs can easily be mixed up with supplementives such as those in (53a) and (53b), which are semantically different from manner adverbs in that they do not modify the verb phrase, but are predicated of the object or subject of their minimal clause. This semantic relation is brought out by the paraphrases in the primed examples.

The difficulty in distinguishing between manner adverbs and supplementives is not only that they are both uninflected, but also that they occupy more or less the same position in the clause. The examples in (54) illustrate this even more clearly than the examples above: both manner adverbs and supplementives-II must follow adverbials such as natuurlijknaturally. Note that this does not apply to supplementives-I, since these precede these adverbials; cf. Section 28.3, sub III.

Another fact that makes it difficult to distinguish between manner adverbs and supplementives is that, just like clauses with a VP adverbial, clauses with a supplementive-II can be paraphrased by a coordinated en hij doet dat ... phrase when the supplementive is predicated of the subject; example (53a) can be paraphrased as in (55a). This problem does not arise when supplementive-II is predicated of the object of the clause, as is clear from the fact that (53b) cannot be paraphrased as in (55b). The contrast between the examples in (55a) and (55b) is due to the fact that the noun phrase of which the supplementive is predicated is syntactically present in the second conjunct in the former example, but not in the latter.

Despite these similarities, manner adverbs and supplementives can be easily distinguished on minimally three grounds; cf. Van den Toorn (1969). First, while two manner adverbs can be coordinated, as in (56a), the coordination of a manner adverb and a supplementive-II, as in (56b-c), yields degraded results. Examples such as (56c) sound better than examples such as (56b) and are not unlikely to occur, but can probably be considered performance errors; cf. taaladvies.net/ik-heb-je-bericht-gezien-en-een-antwoord-op-je-vraag-foute-samentrekking/.

Second, the examples in (57) show that a paraphrase with a terwijl-clause, given for the supplementives in (53), cannot be used for the manner adverbs in (51), due to the fact that the manner adverbs are not predicated of the nominal argument of the verb, but modify the verb (phrase). This implies that, while the availability of a paraphrase with a coordinated en hij doet dat ... phrase is not sufficient to conclude that we are dealing with a manner adverb, the availability of a paraphrase with a terwijl-clause is sufficient to conclude that we are dealing with a supplementive-II.

Finally, the examples in (52) have shown that manner adverbs can often be nominalized with the suffix -heid and then modified by the PP van zijn handelenof his acting. The examples in (58) show that supplementive adjectives cannot be nominalized in this way.

Section 30.2.2, sub IV, has already shown that Dutch has only a few adjectival time adverbs; generally it is adverbial PPs that are used in this function. Some examples are laatlate and vroegearly in (59a); the adjectives eerderbefore/earlier and bijtijdsin time may also belong to this set. The paraphrase in (59b) shows that the adjectives in (59a) behave like VP adverbials.

That laat and vroeg are adjectival in nature is clear from the fact that they can be modified by a degree modifier, and that they are eligible for comparative and superlative formation. This is illustrated in (60).

Section 30.2.2, sub III, has shown that adverbs like altijdalways, dikwijlsfrequently, #geregeldregularly, gewoonlijkusually, somssometimes, #vaakoften, #zeldenrarely, and #dagelijksdaily/wekelijksweekly/maandelijksmonthly can be used as clause adverbials. If our paraphrase tests are reliable, the primed examples in (61) show that at least the adjectives marked with “#” can also be used as VP adverbials. Note that we replaced the coordinator enand with maarbut in (61d), which is motivated by the inherent negative meaning of the adverb zelden (= not often).

The two uses of frequency adverbs, either as clause adverbials or as VP adverbials, trigger two different readings that are not always easy to distinguish. Consider example (62a). This example is ambiguous: it can express that Marie goes to church almost every Sunday, but also that Marie goes to church several times on Sundays. On the first reading, both the adverbial PP op zondag and the frequency adjective vaak function as clause adverbials, and the sentence must be paraphrased as in (62b). On the second reading, only the phrase op zondag functions as a clause adverbial, and the frequency adverb cannot occur in the het is adverb zo dat ... frame; the sentence must be paraphrased as in (62b').

Dutch has only a few adjectival place adverbs that can function as VP adverbials; in general, adverbial PPs are used in this function. Some possible adjectival place adverbs are given in (63).

However, it is difficult to show that these place adverbs are adjectival in nature; the elements hierhere, daarthere and gindsyonder, for example, can also be considered prepositional pro-forms, since they can be replaced by the prepositional phrase in Amsterdam. Examples like buitengaatsoffshore and buitenshuisoutdoors may have originated from prepositional phrases headed by buitenoutside, but examples in which they occur inflected in prenominal attributive position are easy to find on the internet. However, such cases do not generally strike us as belonging to the colloquial register: buitengaatse windmolenoffshore windmill; ?binnenshuize omgevingenindoor environments.

Degree adverbs as in (64) typically occur with stative or habitual verbs.

These degree adverbs cannot be classified by the tests in (12) and (15): the paraphrases in (65) show that degree adverbs can be placed neither in the het is adverb zo dat ... frame nor in an ... en pronoun doet dat adverb clause.

Since the examples in (66) show that the degree adverbs follow the clause adverbials, we can probably conclude that they do not function as clause modifiers.

Now note that the fact that the ... en pronoun doet dat adverb paraphrases in the primed examples in (65) are unacceptable may be due to the fact that the verb doento do in the paraphrases implies some (controlled) action. For this reason, it may not be able to replace the stative verb hatento hate and the habitual verb rokento smoke in (64). If this is the case, we should conclude that the paraphrase ... en pronoun doet dat adverb only produces valid results when we are dealing with verbs denoting actions; in view of the earlier conclusion based on the examples in (66), this would lead to the conclusion that degree adverbs typically function as VP adverbials.

This subsection concludes the review of the different types of VP adverbial with a brief discussion of the subject-oriented adverb graaggladly, which is only used adverbially in colloquial speech. Example (67b) shows that it satisfies the VP-adverbial test in (15).

That graag is oriented towards the subject of the clause is clear from the fact, illustrated in (68), that it requires that the subject be a [+animate] noun phrase.

Although graag can be modified by a degree modifier such as ergvery, it does not have a regular comparative/superlative form. Instead, the comparative/superlative forms liever/het liefst in (69b&c) are used. Note that the positive degree erg lief cannot replace erg graag in (69a). On the other hand, the equative phrase even lief and the modified phrase net zo lief can. This is shown in (69d).

For completeness, note that the element graag can also be used as a discourse particle, comparable to English please. This particle is probably clause-external: it is placed in clause-final position and preceded by an intonation break. The particle differs from the adverb in that it cannot be modified by the degree modifier erg, nor can it be replaced by liever, het liefst and even/net zo lief.

The VP adverbials in the examples in the previous subsections all occupy a position in the middle field of the clause. However, the primed examples in (71) show that they can also be topicalized: (71a) contains a manner adverb, (71b) a time adverb, (71c) a frequency adverb, and (71d) a place adverb. Recall that (71c) is ambiguous in the sense that vaak can also be interpreted as a clause adverbial.

If the clause contains a clause adverbial, the VP adverbial usually follows it; only the order in the primeless examples of (72) is possible. Place adverbs are an exception: as the (d)-examples show, the place adverb buitengaats can either precede or follow the clause adverbial natuurlijk. This strongly suggests that place adverbs can also be used as clause adverbials: cf. the discussion of (34)/(35) in Section 30.2.3. One problem with this suggestion, however, is that the place adverb does not seem to pass the test for adverbials; cf. the markedness of ??Het was buitengaats zo dat het schip zijn afgewerkte olie loste.

The order of the adverbs in (72) is preserved under topicalization, i.e. topicalization of VP adverbials is excluded when a clause adverbial is present. This is illustrated in (73). Given the acceptability of (72d'), it is not really surprising that topicalization of buitengaats is possible when a clause adverbial is present.

Finally, the examples in (74) show that extraposition of VP adverbials is not possible: they cannot follow the verb(s) in clause-final position.