Many adverbs are formed from adjectives and end in -ly. Here are some rules/tips to help you form adverbs from adjectives and spell them correctly.
Forming Adverbs from Adjectives
Forming adverbs from adjectives is a common way to describe how something is being done. Adjectives describe qualities of nouns and pronouns, while adverbs describe how an action is performed or how an adjective or another adverb applies.
There are several ways to form adverbs from adjectives:
- By adding “-ly” to the end of the adjective: (e.g. slow -> slowly)
- By using the same word as the adjective: (e.g. fast -> fast)
- By adding “-ly” to adjectives ending in “-y”: (e.g. happy -> happily)
- By changing “-ic” to “-ically”: (e.g. fantastic -> fantastically)
- By adding “-ly” to adjectives ending in “-le”: (e.g. simple -> simply)
Adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, and they often describe the manner, time, place, or frequency of an action or event.
Rule 1
In most cases, an adverb is formed by adding “-ly” to an adjective:
For examples:
- cheap -cheaply
- quick – quickly
- slow – slowly
- anxious – anxiously
- calm – calmly
- brave – bravely
- careful – carefully
- careless – carelessly
- certain – certainly
- correct – correctly
- curious – curiously
- eager – eagerly
- excited – excitedly
- extreme – extremely
- fortunate – fortunately
- furious – furiously
- generous – generously
- glad – gladly
- honest – honestly
- immediate – immediately
- jealous – jealously
- loud – loudly
- slow – slowly
- hard – hardly
- fast – fast
- bad – badly
- good – well
- beautiful – beautifully
- brave – bravely
- clever – cleverly
- honest – honestly
- innocent – innocently
- joyous – joyously
- lovely – lovingly
- narrow – narrowly
- sincere – sincerely
- sudden – suddenly
- tough – toughly
- nervous – nervously
- cruel – cruelly
- gradual – gradually
- gentle – gently
- friendly – friendly
- early – early
- final – finally
- serious – seriously
- simple – simply
- typical – typically
- whole – wholly
- exact – exactly
- direct – directly
- absurd – absurdly
- complex – complexly
- extreme – extremely
- firm – firmly
- great – greatly
- clear – clearly
Rule 2
If the adjective ends with “y”, replace the “y” with an “i” and add “-ly”:
For examples:
- ready – readily
- merry – merrily
- easy – easily
- angry – angrily
- busy – busily
- happy – happily
- hungry – hungrily
- lazy – lazily
- noisy – noisily
- messy – messily
- nervy – nervily
- tacky – tackily
- jazzy – jazzily
- sleazy – sleazily
- fuzzy – fuzzily
- dizzy – dizzily
- hazy – hazily
- creepy – creepily
- flaky – flakely
- shaky – shakily
- tasty – tastily
- slinky – slinkily
- slippery – slipperily
- silly – sillily
Rule 3
If the adjective ends with “-le”, replace “e” at the end with “y”:
For examples:
- understandable – understandbly
- forcible – forcibly
- gentle – gently
- possible – possibly
- able – ably
- simple – simply
- noble – nobly
- mortal – mortally
- circular – circularly
- fragile – fragilely
- flexible – flexibly
- horrible – horribly
- visible – visibly
- capable – capably
- traceable – traceably
- agreeable – agreeably
- comfortable – comfortably
- traceable – traceably
- affordable – affordably
- accountable – accountably
- portable – portably
- responsible – responsibly
- tolerable – tolerably
- predictable – predictably
Rule 4
If the adjectives ends with “-ic”, add “-ally”:
For examples:
- Idiotic – idiotically
- Tragic – tragically
- Basic – basically
- Fantastic – Fantastically
- Panic – Panically
- Magic – Magically
- Public – Publicly
- Automatic – Automatically
- Romantic – Romantically
- Classical – Classically
- Fantastic – Fantastically
- Economic – Economically
- Historic – Historically
- Generic – Generically
- Aromatic – Aromatically
- Energetic – Energetically
- Graphic – Graphically
- Logic – Logically
- Mechanic – Mechanically
- Music – Musically
- Static – Statistically
…
Excepting:
- public – publicly
Rule 5
Some adjectives do not change form at all:
- fast – fast
- hard – hard
- late – late
- early – early
- monthly – monthly
- daily – daily
- near – near
- far – far
- right – right
- wrong – wrong
- straight – straight
- low – low
- high – high
…
Forming Adverbs from Adjectives | Image
Forming Adverbs from Adjectives
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