Adverbs of manner in English
The table below shows how we can make adverbs from adjectives in English.
| Adjective | Adverb | |
|---|---|---|
| Add -ly to an adjective. This applies to adjectives ending in -l so that the l is doubled. But note: full/fully | bad | badly |
| careful | carefully | |
| mad | madly | |
| plain | plainly | |
| sudden | suddenly | |
| beautiful | beautifully | |
| musical | musically | |
| -y becomes -ily: consonant + y: Compare: vowel + y |
happy (day - noun) |
happily daily |
| busy | busily | |
| funny | funnily | |
| dry | drily/dryly | |
| sly | slyly | |
| Delete -e and add -ly for endings in -ie: | noble | nobly |
| able | ably | |
| nimble | nimbly | |
| possible | possibly | |
| whole | wholy | |
| Other adjectives ending in -e retain the -e when adding -ly: | extreme | extremely |
| tame | tamely | |
| Exceptions: | due | duly |
| true | truly | |
| Adjectives ending in -ic take -ally: | fantastic | fantastically |
| basic | basically | |
| systematic | systematically | |
| Exception: | public | publicly |
Some adverbs have two forms which may have the same meaning:
I bought this car cheap/cheaply.
Some may have different meanings:
I work hard and play hard. He did hardly any work today.