Table of Contents

Adverbs of manner: further information

Introduction

Image  He drove to the airport quickly.
 

Definition

Adverbs of manner tell us more about verbs - about how something happens or is done.  


 

Uses

We use them to answer the question, 'How?'

 

Use

Examples

 

To talk about how people do things.

 

They eat healthily.

 

The team members work efficiently together.

 

 

To talk about how things happen.

 

 

It's raining heavily.

 

This wine will age beautifully.

 

 

To talk about changing trends and figures.

 

 

 

The situation is improving rapidly.

 

The temperature is falling steadily.

 

The profits fell sharply.

 

We expect the sales figures to increase slowly.

 

 

 


Construction

Regular adverbs are formed with an adjective and 'ly'. Sometimes, there are spelling changes.

 

Spelling rule

Examples

 

Add 'ly' to adjective.

 

 

 

Note that if an adjective ends in 'l', we still add

'ly' so we have 'lly'.

 

slowly           quietly

badly             seriously

bravely          strangely

 

carefully

beautifully

 

 

Adjectives ending in 'y' - change 'y' to 'i' and add 'ly'.

 

happy                   happily

angry                    angrily

lazy                        lazily

easy                      easily

noisy                     noisily

 

 

Adjectives ending in a consonant + 'le' - drop 'e' and add 'y'.

 

 

 

gentle                       gently

reasonable            reasonably

simple                      simply

horrible                    horribly

 

 

Adjectives ending in 'ic' - add 'ally'.

[this is because in older English, some of these adjectives ended in 'ical'. Some, like 'practical' and 'logical' still do, of course.]

 

 

 

automatic              automatically

organic                  organically

basic                      basically

energetic               energetically

 

Others: with these three adjectives, drop 'e' and add 'ly'.

 

 

due                        duly

true                        truly

whole                    wholly

 

 

 

Note that

 

1.     Not all words that end in 'ly' are adverbs. Some adjectives also end in 'ly'. For example, 'friendly', 'silly', 'leisurely', 'lonely' and 'lively'. We cannot form adverbs from them but can say 'in a ....way/manner/fashion'. For example:

           

She greeted them in a friendly way.

They walked along the beach in a leisurely manner.

 

2.     Some adjectives ending in 'ed' do not have an 'ly' adverb form. We can say 'in a ....way/manner/fashion'. For example:

 

She carried out the tasks in a very organised fashion.

He approached the situation in a relaxed way.

 

Or use a preposition and a noun:

 

She looked at him in surprise. [not surprisedly]

She read the article with interest. [not interestedly]

 

If you are not sure if an adjective takes 'ly', check in a good dictionary.

 

 


Irregular adverbs


Adjective

Adverb

fast

fast

hard

hard

good

well

 

 

Note that   

 

1.     'Hardly' is not the adverb related to 'hard':

             She works hardly.   Image    She works hard. Image

           

It has a completely different meaning and use - it suggests 'a very little'; 'almost none' or 'almost not at all':

 

     Her voice is very quiet; I can hardly hear her.

     I was so busy yesterday - I hardly ate anything all day.

     We need to buy more coffee - there's hardly any left.

           

2.     'Well' is also an adjective. It is used to describe a person who is in good health.

 

"How's your mother?"

"She's very well, thanks."

 

3.     Some adverbs have two forms - either unchanged from the adjective or with 'ly'.

   For example: 

 

He spoke loud.

He spoke loudly.

 

He bought a new car cheap.

He bought a new car cheaply.

 

You spelt my name wrong.

You spelt my name wrongly.

 

            The 'ly' form is considered more grammatically correct and is preferred in formal contexts.

 

 

 

Word order

These are the most common structures.

 

Where to place the adverb

Examples

 

After the main verb when the verb is intransitive or there is no object.

 

 

 

He spoke loudly so that they could hear at the back.

 

He always eats slowly.

 

 

Sometimes before a transitive verb if we want to add emphasis.

 

Writers sometimes place the adverb at the beginning of a sentence to catch our attention or build suspense.

 

 

He carefully picked up the broken glass.

 

 

Carefully, he picked up the broken glass.

 

These adverbs go after the verb: well, badly, hard, fast.

 

Compare with adjectives:

 

He speaks English well.

He speaks good English.

 

 

He's managing the team well but dealing with the customers badly.

 

He tried hard but couldn't fix it.

 

 

After an object - never between the verb and object.

 

 

 

He always eats his lunch slowly.

 

He always eats slowly his lunch. Image

 

 

When there is a preposition - before the preposition OR after the object.

 

They responded positively to his suggestion.

Or

They responded to his suggestion positively.

 

 

 

Note that we need to be careful when there is more than one verb in a sentence. Note the differences in the following sentences:

 

            She quickly explained how to solve the problem. [her explanation was quick]

            She explained how to solve the problem quickly. [the solving of the problem was quick]

 

 

 

Examples

Image        As I get older, it's important for me to eat healthily and sensibly.

Image   We had to live very economically when we were students. 
Image   "If I understand you well, you're saying that we need to solve this problem fast or we lose the contract?