2.5 Adverbials

We use adverbials to give more information about the verb. An adverbial can be an adverb (single word), an adverb with an intensifier (adverbial phrase), or a phrase with a preposition (or adverbial clause). The adverbial modifies the verb, in some cases even the whole sentence, and it can appear in almost any position in a sentence. 

In the sentence The TV is always on, Peggy is using the adverb always to describe the way the TV is in the average American home during the sixties. 
In the second sentence, Vietnam playing in the background, the prepositional phrase in the background is functioning as an adverbial clause.

We often use phrases with like as adverbials of manner:

With the phrase like you were friends with me, Sally is describing the way the doctor acted.

When an adverb is accompanied by a modifier or qualifier, it functions as the head of an adverbial phrase.

In the sentence You want it so badly, Don uses the adverb badly (adjective + -ly) with the 

qualifier so. Together they function as the adverbial phrase of the sentence.