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
- Plural of Roof: A Simple Guide to Basic English Grammar - October 3, 2023
- Black Baby Names: Popular & Unique Names for Your Little One for Fun Naming - October 2, 2023
- List of Homonyms to Avoid Confusion in Your Writing - September 30, 2023
noor
Sunday 15th of January 2023
umm i think add a rules of all grammars
sara
Saturday 14th of January 2023
I came here for my english writing to make a green card in grade 3
Soliman
Sunday 28th of February 2021
It's so great. Even I didn't know before. I am very thankful of this...
skylar Alderfer
Thursday 19th of March 2020
I haven't been able to get on schoology until today due to not having my password.