Adverbs of manner
Introduction
He drives very quickly.
Definition
Adverbs of manner tell us more about verbs - about how something happens.
Uses
We use them to answer the question, 'How?'
| Use | Examples |
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To talk about how people do things. |
They eat healthily.
The team members work efficiently together.
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To talk about how things happen.
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The sun's shining brightly.
The city is expanding rapidly.
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To talk about changing trends and figures.
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The situation is improving rapidly.
The temperature is falling steadily.
We expect the sales figures to increase slowly.
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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 bravely badly quietly seriously strangely
carefully beautifully
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Adjectives ending in 'y' - change 'y' to 'i' and add 'ly'. |
happ angr laz eas nois
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Adjectives ending in a consonant + 'le' - drop 'e' and add 'y'.
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gentl reasonabl simpl horribl
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Adjectives ending in 'ic' - add 'ally'.
Note that there is an exception: public publicly
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automatic automatically organic organically basic basically energetic energetically
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Note that not all words that end in 'ly' are adverbs. Some adjectives also end in 'ly'. For example:
· friendly
· silly
· lovely
· likely
Irregular adverbs
| Adjective | Adverb |
| fast | fast |
| hard | hard |
| good | well |
For example:
He speaks English well.
He speaks good English.
It's a fast car.
He drives fast.
Examples
He dances badly.
She's sleeping peacefully.
They're working hard to find a solution.
