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Unit 15
Adverbs of Manner
quickly, carefully, well...
What are Adverbs of Manner?
Adverbs of manner describe how something is done — the way or style in which an action happens. Most are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. They answer the question How?
Forming Adverbs of Manner
| Rule | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|
| Most adjectives → add -ly | quick / careful / polite / slow | quickly / carefully / politely / slowly |
| Ends in -y → change y to i + -ly | easy / happy / noisy / angry | easily / happily / noisily / angrily |
| Ends in -le → replace e with -y | gentle / simple / possible | gently / simply / possibly |
| Ends in -ic → add -ally | automatic / dramatic / basic | automatically / dramatically / basically |
| Irregular — no -ly rule | good / fast / hard / late / early | well / fast / hard / late / early |
Position in the Sentence
| Position | Example |
|---|---|
| After the verb (most common) | He speaks slowly. |
| After the object (if there is one) | She painted the walls beautifully. |
| Before the verb (for emphasis, less common) | She carefully opened the envelope. |
Adjective vs Adverb — Key Difference
An adjective describes a noun. An adverb describes a verb (or adjective/adverb).
| Adjective → describes the noun | Adverb → describes the verb |
|---|---|
| She is a careful driver. | She drives carefully. |
| He's a fast runner. | He runs fast. |
| She's a good cook. | She cooks well. |
| It was a hard decision. | He worked hard. |
Important Irregular Adverbs
| Adjective | Adverb | Note |
|---|---|---|
| good | well | ❌ She speaks good → ✅ She speaks well. |
| fast | fast | ❌ He runs fastly → ✅ He runs fast. |
| hard | hard | ❌ They worked hardly → ✅ They worked hard. |
| late | late | ❌ She arrived lately → ✅ She arrived late. |
| early | early | ❌ He came earlly → ✅ He came early. |
⚠️ Tricky Pairs
| Adverb | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hard | with effort / intensity | She works hard. |
| hardly | almost not / barely | I hardly know her. (= I barely know her) |
| late | not on time | He arrived late. |
| lately | recently | I haven't seen her lately. (= recently) |
Look, Feel, Sound, Taste + Adjective
After be and "sense" verbs (look, feel, sound, smell, taste, seem) we describe the subject, so we use an adjective, not an adverb:
| ✅ Adjective | ❌ Adverb |
|---|---|
| You look tired. | You look tiredly. |
| This soup tastes delicious. | This soup tastes deliciously. |
| That sounds great! | That sounds greatly! |
| I feel bad about it. | I feel badly about it. |
Adjectives that End in -ly
Some words ending in -ly are adjectives, not adverbs: friendly, lovely, lonely, ugly, silly, lively. They have no adverb form, so use in a ... way:
- She's a friendly person. → She smiled in a friendly way. (not
friendlily) - What a lovely day!
Annotated Examples
Subject
Verb
Auxiliary
Object
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Hover over any word to see its role.
subjectSheverbansweredobjectthe questionadverbconfidently.
↳ Adverb after the object — how she answered.
subjectHeverbdrivesadverbveryadverbcarefullyadverbin traffic.
↳ Very + adverb — degree modifier.
Thesubjectstudentsverbworkedadverbhardadverball day.
↳ Hard = irregular adverb (not hardly).
Common Mistakes
He runs fastly.
→
He runs fast.
"Fast" is an irregular adverb — no -ly.
She speaks good.
→
She speaks well.
"Well" is the adverb of "good" — not "goodly".
They worked hardly.
→
They worked hard.
"Hardly" means "almost not" — completely different meaning.
He did the job careful.
→
He did the job carefully.
Add -ly to form the adverb: carefully.
She is always politely.
→
She is always polite.
After "be" use the adjective, not the adverb.
This cake tastes wonderfully.
→
This cake tastes wonderful.
"Taste" describes the cake (the subject) → adjective.
He spoke to me friendly.
→
He spoke to me in a friendly way.
"Friendly" is an adjective — it has no -ly adverb.