Formation of Adverb1

FORMATION OF ADVERBS
Definition of Adverbs
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another

adverb; they add information about verbs. In other words, adverbs
describe actions or other descriptive words. For example – Manav
runs slowly. Here the word ‘slowly’ describes the action of running
and therefore, is an adverb.
Formation of Adverbs
• Most of the times, an adverb is formed by adding ‘ly’ to

an adjective. Examples of such formation of adverbs are as
follows:
Adjective Adverb
quick quickly
slow slowly
beautiful beautifully
firm firmly
delicate delicately
abrupt abruptly
careful carefully
harsh harshly
cheerful cheerfully
sad sadly
Sometimes, the adjective ends in ‘y’. In these cases, replace the

‘y’ with ‘i’ and add ‘ly’. Examples are as follows,
Adjective Adverb
easy easily
lucky luckily
happy happily
angry angrily
hungry hungrily
heavy heavily
breezy breezily
cozy cozily
cheery cheerily
busy busily
• In some cases, the adjective ends in ‘le’, ‘able’ or ‘ible‘.

In these cases, replace the ‘e’ with ‘y’. The exception is
‘hostile’. The adverb for ‘hostile’ is ‘hostilely’. Examples
of these adverbs’ formation are,
Adjective Adverb
gentle gently
terrible terribly
probable probably
capable capably
fashionable fashionably
suitable suitably
responsible responsibly
eligible eligibly
horrible horribly
incredible incredibly
• If the adjective ends in ‘ic, then add ‘ally’. The exception

is ‘public’. The adverb for ‘public’ is ‘publicly’. Some
examples are
Adjective Adverb
tragic tragically
basic basically
dramatic dramatically
energetic energetically
economic economically
strategic strategically
arithmetic arithmetically
geometric geometrically
artistic artistically
academic academically
• For adjectives that end in ‘cal’, just add ‘ly’ to turn it

into an adverb. Examples –
Adjective Adverb
chemical chemically
biological biologically
logical logically
grammatical grammatically
physical physically
mechanical mechanically
mathematical mathematically
musical musically
critical critically
medical medically
• Some adverbs have the same form as their

adjective. Some such words are,
Adjective Adverb
early early
late late
daily daily
far far
close close
fast fast
free free
high high
low low
long long
The adverb for the adjective ‘good’ is ‘well’. Examples –
1. Jack is a good guitarist. – Jack plays the guitar well.

2. She is a good dancer. – She dances well.
3. Akshay is a good student. – Akshay studies well.
4. He is a good chess player. – He plays chess well.
Solved Example For You
Question 1: Give the adverbs of the following adjectives – domestic,

reversible, crazy, radical, wide, soft, simple.
Solution 1:
Adjective Adverb
domestic domestically
reversible reversibly
crazy crazily
radical radically
wide wide
soft softly
simple simply
Question 2: Fill in the blanks with the best adverb from the brackets.
(carefully, suddenly, loudly, quickly, softly)
• She talks so ___________, you can hear her from miles away!
• Let’s walk __________, I don’t want to be late.
• Talk __________, the baby is sleeping!
• He walked _________ on the icy pavement because he did not
want to slip and fall.
• It started raining _________, we were all soaked in minutes.
Adverbs ending in -ward(s) or -wise

There is a small group of adverbs which end in -ward(s) or -wise.
The -ward(s) words can end in either -ward or -wards (inward,
inwards).
1. -wards: inwards, eastwards, upwards, downwards
2. -wise: clockwise, lengthwise, likewise
The doctor asked her to move her head upwards but she couldn’t.
Turn the handle clockwise to start it.
He’s the one that they all love. Whatever he does, they
do likewise. (They do the same thing.)
Adverbs with the same form as adjectives

Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives. The most common
are: fast (not fastly), left, hard, outside, right, straight, late, well, and
time words such as daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
Compare
adjective adverb
This coconut is really hard. You’ll You have to bang the

need a hammer to break it up. door hard to shut it.
adjective adverb
They can swim quite fast now

She drives a fast car.
actually.
An outside light would be a really When I went outside, the light

good idea for our house. came on automatically.
My company pays
I get a monthly pay cheque.
me monthly.
Warning:
Don’t confuse adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives modify nouns or
are used after verbs such as be, become, seem, look, smell, taste.
She walks very elegantly. (adverb of manner, describing how she
walks)
He wore an elegant suit and a silk tie. (adjective describing the suit)
She looks very elegant in that long skirt. (adjective after look)
Adjectives ending in -ly

Some adjectives end in -ly, e.g. lively, lonely, ugly. We don’t form
adverbs from these adjectives because they are not easy to
pronounce. We usually reword what we want to say instead.
Don’t act in a silly way.
Not: Don’t act sillily.
She said it in a friendly way.
Not: She said it friendlily.

Formation of Adverb1

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Formation of Adverb1

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FORMATION OF ADVERBS

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another

• Most of the times, an adverb is formed by adding ‘ly’ to

Sometimes, the adjective ends in ‘y’. In these cases, replace the

• In some cases, the adjective ends in ‘le’, ‘able’ or ‘ible‘.

• If the adjective ends in ‘ic, then add ‘ally’. The exception

• For adjectives that end in ‘cal’, just add ‘ly’ to turn it

• Some adverbs have the same form as their

The adverb for the adjective ‘good’ is ‘well’. Examples –

1. Jack is a good guitarist. – Jack plays the guitar well.

Solved Example For You

Question 1: Give the adverbs of the following adjectives – domestic,

Adverbs ending in -ward(s) or -wise

Adverbs with the same form as adjectives

This coconut is really hard. You’ll You have to bang the

They can swim quite fast now

An outside light would be a really When I went outside, the light

Adjectives ending in -ly

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