Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs, and also adjectives, other adverbs and past participles. Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective.
A Adjective + -ly
Many adverbs are an adjective + -ly:
| adjective | adverb |
|---|---|
| quick | quickly |
| serious | seriously |
| careful | carefully |
| bad | badly |
| heavy | heavily |
| terrible | terribly |
Note the spelling changes: heavy becomes heavily, terrible becomes terribly.
Not every word ending in -ly is an adverb. Friendly, lively, elderly, lonely and lovely are adjectives. A lovely day remains a lovely day, however many letters it ends with.
- The weekend went far too quickly.
- Three people were seriously hurt in the fire.
- Our new neighbours are very friendly.
- It was a lovely evening.
B Adjective or adverb?
Adjectives (quick, careful, heavy) tell us about a noun, that is, a person or a thing. We put adjectives before nouns.
Adverbs (quickly, carefully, heavily) tell us about a verb: how somebody does something, or how something happens.
| adjective + noun | verb (+ object) + adverb |
|---|---|
| Dad is a careful driver. | Dad drove carefully down the hill. |
| The match was cancelled because of the heavy snow. | It was snowing heavily. |
| Kasia speaks perfect English. | Kasia speaks English perfectly. |
One does not drive careful, and one is not a carefully driver.
- Dad's a careful driver.
- Dad drove carefully down the hill.
- It was snowing heavily, so the match was cancelled.
- Kasia speaks perfect English.
- Kasia speaks English perfectly.
C After be, look, feel and sound: an adjective
After be, and after look, feel, sound and similar verbs, we use an adjective, because we are describing the subject. With an ordinary action verb, we use an adverb.
| adjective | adverb |
|---|---|
| Please be quiet. | Please talk quietly. |
| My driving test was really bad. | I did really badly in my driving test. |
| You look very serious. | Nobody takes me seriously. |
| I feel happy. | The dog was wagging its tail happily. |
- Please be quiet. The baby's asleep.
- Please talk quietly. The baby's asleep.
- My driving test was really bad.
- I did really badly in my driving test.
- Why do you look so serious?
- Why does nobody take me seriously?
D Adverbs before adjectives, adverbs and past participles
An adverb can also go before an adjective or another adverb:
| adverb | + adjective or adverb |
|---|---|
| reasonably | cheap (adjective) |
| awfully | sorry (adjective) |
| remarkably | quickly (adverb) |
An adverb can also go before a past participle (hurt, organised, written and so on): badly organised, seriously injured, beautifully written.
- The café is reasonably cheap and the coffee is extremely good.
- I'm awfully sorry. I didn't see you there.
- Lily picks up new songs remarkably quickly.
- The driving test was surprisingly easy.
- Two climbers were seriously injured on Ben Nevis.
- The school trip was badly organised.
Exercises
100.1 Complete each sentence with an adverb. The first letters of the adverb are given in brackets.
It snowed heavily (he...) all night, so the schools were closed.
It snowed heavily all night, so the schools were closed.
The test wasn't difficult at all. I passed it quite (ea...).
The test wasn't difficult at all. I passed it quite easily.
The queue at the post office went out of the door, but everybody waited (pat...).
The queue at the post office went out of the door, but everybody waited patiently.
We weren't expecting anybody, but my cousin from Dundee turned up (unex...) on Sunday.
We weren't expecting anybody, but my cousin from Dundee turned up unexpectedly on Sunday.
Dev keeps fit by swimming (reg...).
Dev keeps fit by swimming regularly.
My German isn't brilliant, but I can follow a conversation (per...) as long as people speak (sl...) and (cl...).
My German isn't brilliant, but I can follow a conversation perfectly as long as people speak slowly and clearly.
100.2 Put in the correct word.
She parked ___ between two vans. (careful / carefully)
carefully
She parked carefully between two vans.
I thought he behaved very ___ at the party. (rude / rudely)
I thought he behaved very rudely at the party.
In the middle of the film, the lights went out ___. (sudden / suddenly)
In the middle of the film, the lights went out suddenly.
There was a ___ crash from the kitchen. (sudden / suddenly)
There was a sudden crash from the kitchen.
Tom fell off his bike and hurt his knee quite ___. (bad / badly)
Tom fell off his bike and hurt his knee quite badly.
I think something I ate disagreed with me. I feel ___. (awful / awfully)
I think something I ate disagreed with me. I feel awful.
Jodie is ___ worried about her exam results. (terrible / terribly)
Jodie is terribly worried about her exam results.
This sofa is very ___. I could fall asleep on it. (comfortable / comfortably)
This sofa is very comfortable. I could fall asleep on it.
Please write your postcode as ___ as you can. (clear / clearly)
Please write your postcode as clearly as you can.
Hold on to the rail. These steps don't look very ___. (safe / safely)
Hold on to the rail. These steps don't look very safe.
Enjoy your holiday, and I hope you have a ___ flight. (safe / safely)
Enjoy your holiday, and I hope you have a safe flight.
Thanks for texting to say you'd got back ___. (safe / safely)
Thanks for texting to say you'd got back safely.
100.3 Complete each sentence using a word from the box. Sometimes you need the adjective (careful etc.) and sometimes the adverb (carefully etc.).
careful(ly)complete(ly)dangerous(ly)financial(ly)fluent(ly)frequent(ly)nervous(ly)perfect(ly)permanent(ly)special(ly)
Lydia never rushes when she's using a knife. She's always careful.
Lydia never rushes when she's using a knife. She's always careful.
The trains are late now and then, but it doesn't happen .
The trains are late now and then, but it doesn't happen frequently.
Tomasz's English is very , although he still makes the odd mistake.
Tomasz's English is very fluent, although he still makes the odd mistake.
I baked this cake for your birthday, so I hope you like it.
I baked this cake specially for your birthday, so I hope you like it.
The library was very quiet. There was silence.
The library was very quiet. There was complete silence.
I tried the jacket on and it fitted me .
I tried the jacket on and it fitted me perfectly.
We'd love a new kitchen, but it's impossible for us at the moment.
We'd love a new kitchen, but it's financially impossible for us at the moment.
I'm only renting this flat for the summer. I won't be living here .
I'm only renting this flat for the summer. I won't be living here permanently.
Do you usually get before you go to the dentist?
Do you usually get nervous before you go to the dentist?
Kai overtakes on bends and never slows down. He drives .
Kai overtakes on bends and never slows down. He drives dangerously.
100.4 Choose two words, one from each box, to complete each sentence.
absolutelybadlycompletelyhappilyreasonablyseriouslyslightlyunnecessarilyunusuallychangedcheapdamagedenormousilllongmarriedplannedquiet
I expected the hotel to cost a fortune, but it was reasonably cheap.
I expected the hotel to cost a fortune, but it was reasonably cheap.
Ollie's grandad is and has been taken into hospital.
Ollie's grandad is seriously ill and has been taken into hospital.
Have you seen their new telly? It's .
Have you seen their new telly? It's absolutely enormous.
Nobody was hurt in the crash. The van was only .
Nobody was hurt in the crash. The van was only slightly damaged.
The office is normally full of noise, but it's this morning.
The office is normally full of noise, but it's unusually quiet this morning.
I went back to my old school after thirty years. Everything had .
I went back to my old school after thirty years. Everything had completely changed.
The meeting was . We could have finished in half the time.
The meeting was unnecessarily long. We could have finished in half the time.
I'm amazed that Priya and Sam have split up. I thought they were .
I'm amazed that Priya and Sam have split up. I thought they were happily married.
Half the guests got lost on the way to the wedding because it was so .
Half the guests got lost on the way to the wedding because it was so badly planned.