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UNIT 14: ADVERBS

AD VERB FORM ATI ON

Adverbs usually have the form of an adjective + ly.
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Sudden --> Suddenly Happy ---> Happily Careful ---> Carefully

When an adjective ending in –ly, we don’t add –ly to make it an adverb. We add “in a _
fashion/way/manner”.

Cowardly ---> In a cowardly way Lively ---> In a lively fashion

Adjectives are words that modify nouns, while adverbs are words that modify
2 verbs, adjectives or another adverb.

So, the word “fast” in “the car is fast” is an adjective that tells us a characteristic
of the car. In contrast, the word “quickly” in “he drove quickly to the hospital” is
an adverb that tells us how he drove, not how the car is.

Adjectives Adverbs
The car is slow You drive slowly
He’s very careful He works carefully
The coffee is bad She sings badly
They are happy They lived happily

There are some irregular adverbs

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Adjectives Adverbs
The car is fast You drive fast
The exercise is hard She works hard
I was early for the meeting I arrived early for the meeting
I was late for the meeting I arrived late for the meeting

There are also some verbs that might be confusing as they can focus either on
4 the action performed by the subject or on a feature of the subject.

· You smell well: By using an adverb, the focus is on the action performed
(remember that adverbs modify verbs, therefore, actions), so “you smell well”
means “hueles bien” because you have a good sense of smell, you are good
at smelling, your smell sense is developed.
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· You smell good: By using an adjective instead, the focus is on a feature of the
subject, so “you smell good” means “hueles bien” because you give off a good
smell, you emit a good odour. Note that there’s no action involved.

Exercises

1.- Choose the correct word to complete the sentence

a) Please speak quiet / quietly. I am trying to listen to the news on TV

b) Be careful / carefully when you are driving late at night

c) I can hardly understand Kay when she speaks so fast / fastly

d) She wants to leave this company because they pay workers very bad / badly

e) I really like Jane because she is always so polite / politely

f) I am awful / awfully sorry to hear that you have to move to another town

g) Why are you so angry / angrily? I haven’t done anything!

h) Liam is studying hard / hardly for his English examination

2- Choose the correct option to complete the sentences

John held the plate careful / carefully

Julia is a careful / carefully person.

I ran to the station quick / quickly

The journey was quick / quickly

You look tired / tiredly. Didn't you sleep well?

The baby rubbed her eyes tired / tiredly

She sang happy / happily

You sound happy / happily

I speak English well / good

Her English is well / good

She cooks terrible / terribly

He is a terrible / terribly cook.

The music was beautiful / beautifully

She plays the piano beautiful / beautifully

That was a clever / cleverly answer.

She answered clever / cleverly

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Your flat seems tidy / tidily today.

He put the dishes away tidy / tidily

He spoke warm / warmly

She is a very warm / warmly person.

3- Complete the sentences with adverbs formed from the words in brackets

· I ______________ (origin) wanted to be a dancer but now I’d like to be a teacher instead

· I get so annoyed when other students in the class are _____________ (continue) asking questions!

· My friend passed the exam _________ (easy)

· It’s difficult to explain the problem but, ___________ (basic), it’s because of a computer
breakdown

· _____________ (broad) speaking, the project is going to involve the whole department

· The lecturer is great – she explains everything so ________ (clear) that we all understand it

· He worked __________ (hard) to pass the exam

· My friends works ____________ (considerable) harder than I do!

3.- Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first.

Sally always dresses in beautiful clothes

Sally is always ___________________ dressed

James is a really hard hitter when he plays baseball

James hits the ball ____________________ when he plays baseball

My husband is an extremely good cook

My husband cooks extremely _____________

Although my dog is so big he is very gentle when he plays with the cat

My dog plays ______________ with the cat although he is so big

The teacher told the class to be sensible

The teacher told the class to behave ______

The clown did a silly dance when he came into the circus ring

The clown came into the circus ring and danced in _____________

4.- Complete the instructions with suitable adverbs. Use the adjectives in the box below to make
the adverbs you need.

Angry Usual Direct Immediate

Patient Proper Safe Strong

Careful Firm Slow Probable

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How to complain

Don’t shout! Losing your temper or shouting ___________ won’t help you. Keep calm, speak
________ but _________ and make it clear that you will not go away until someone listens to you
___________. Just shouting at the shop assistant is not enough. Go __________ to the top and ask to
see the manager.

If the goods you have bought are not working ____________ or are damaged you should get your
money back __________. Choose a time when the shop is busy and make your complaint
_________ but in a polite way. Take photos of the damaged goods, keep all receipts and
guarantees ______________ and make copies of any letters you have sent or received.

Seven days is ___________ long enough for the shop to reply so wait __________ before making a
further complaint. If you are reasonable, you will __________ get a fair amount of money back.

GOOD OR WELL?

Good is an adjective whose adverb is well. However, we use “well” as an adjective when
referring to health.

You did a good job

You worked really well

I feel well now

1.- Complete the sentences with “good” or “well”

a) They didn’t play ___________ so they lost the game

b) She plays chess but she is not so __________

c) Did you sleep _________ last night?

d) Her English is so _________ that most people think she is from England

e) You did very __________ in the exams. Your essay was very ______

f) How are your parents? Are they ___________?

2- Complete the sentences with adjectives formed from the words in brackets

· My little sister’s very __________ (imagine). She’s always making up games

· It’s a _____________ (beauty) day. The sun is shining and the sky is blue

· This film is ____________ (bore). I feel like going to sleep

· My parents recently bought a very ____________ (comfort) new sofa

· It’s an _____________ (interest) house. It looks a bit like a spaceship

· My grandparents live in a ___________ (wonder) cottage by the sea