28 / PART ONE: THE BASICS Adverbs can also be used to modify or help other adverbs: The doctor arrived very promptly. ‘Very’ is an adverb modifying the adverb ‘promptly’. They can also modify adjectives: The patient is much better today. ‘Much’ is an adverb modifying the adjective ‘better’. Other adverbs are: too, more and however. A preposition is a word that ‘governs’ a noun or pronoun and usually comes before it. It indicates the relation of the noun or pronoun to another word. In the following examples the prepositions are underlined. Notice they are all followed by a noun or pronoun. I knew she was at home. She ran across the road. The clouds were massing in the sky. Her book was under the table. He told me about it. There has been a tradition that a preposition should be not USING PREPOSITIONS