Adverbs of manner

Adjectives vs adverbs of manner

 

Adverbs of manner – use

 
We use adverbs of manner after after a verb to describe the verb. We use an
adverb of manner to say how something happens or how we do something.
  It rained heavily. (=We are describing how it rained.)
 He always replies quickly. (=We are describing how he walks)

Adverbs of manner – position

 
We use adverbs of manner after the verb or, if there is an object, after verb +
object.

 He drives carefully.
 She plays the guitar well. 

very, really, quite

 
We can use very, really, quite before an adverb of manner.

 It rained quite heavily. 
 He drives quite carefully. 
 She plays the guitar really well.

Adjectives
 
We use adjectives before a noun or after the verb be. You can review the topic of
adjectives here.

 This is an expensive guitar. 

 This guitar is expensive. 

Adverbs of manner vs adjectives

 

Difference
 
We use adjectives to describe a noun (before a noun or after the verb be), and we
use adverbs of manner to describe a verb (after the verb or verb + object).
Compare:

 Robert plays the guitar well. (=We are describing the verb,

i.e. how Robert plays the guitar.)
 Robert is a good guitar player. (=We are describing the noun, Robert.)
 Sara eats slowly. 
 Sara is a slow eater. 

Adjectives ending in -ly

 
Some words end in -ly, but they are adjectives, NOT adverbs: friendly, lovely,
silly. We CANNOT transform these adjectives into adverbs of manner.

Exercise 1
Choose adjectives or adverbs of manner to complete the follwing sentences.

 
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1Peter is a [no answer]   driver. He drives very [no answer]  .

Correct answer: careful/carefully
 We use adjectives before the noun (careful driver), and we use adverbs after
the verb (drives carefully).

2Turtles walk [no answer]   because they are [no answer]   animals.

Correct answer: slowly/slow
 We use adverbs after the verb (walk slowly) and we use adjectives before the
noun (slow animals).

3A [no answer]   person usually speaks [no answer]  .

Correct answer: cautious/cautiously
 We use adjectives before the noun (cautious person), and we use adverbs
after the verb (speaks cautiously).

4They are [no answer]  ; they are speaking [no answer]  .

Correct answer: quiet/quietly
 We use adjectives after the verb be (are quiet), and we use adverbs after the
verb (speaking quietly).

5Gordon plays very [no answer]  . He is a [no answer]   player.

Correct answer: well/good
 We use adverbs after the verb (plays very well) and we use adjectives before
the noun (good player).

6He did a [no answer]   exam. He passed the exam [no answer]  .

Correct answer: brilliant/brilliantly
 We use adjectives before the noun (brilliant exam), and we use adverbs after
the verb or verb + object (passed the exam brilliantly)

7We had [no answer]   snow yesterday. It snowed [no answer]  .

Correct answer: heavy/heavily
 We use adjectives before the noun (heavy snow), and we use adverbs after
the verb (snowed heavily).

8He looked at me [no answer]  . He has a very [no answer]   look.

Correct answer: angrily/angry
 We use adverbs after the verb or verb + object (looked at me angrily) and we
use adjectives before the noun (angry look).

9We slept [no answer]   in our [no answer]   bed.

Correct answer: comfortably/comfortable
 We use adverbs after the verb (slept comfortably) and we use adjectives before
the noun (comfortable bed).

10He plays [no answer]   because he is a [no answer]   player.

Correct answer: badly/bad
 We use adverbs after the verb (plays badly) and we use adjectives before the
noun (bad player).

Exercise 2
Complete the follwing sentences with the correct adjectives or adverbs of manner.

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Correct answers: 0/10.

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1He normally drives very _____.

 a. slow
 b. fastly
 c. fastcorrect

 This question was not answered

 We need an adverb because it goes after the verb (drives).

  Slow is an adjective (slowly is the adverb), and *fastly does not exist. Fast can be an
adjective or an adverb.
 There are some adverbs that have the same form as the adjectives: fast, hard, early,
late, right, wrong.

2I passed _____.

 a. easily the test

 b. the test easilycorrect
 c. easy the test

 This question was not answered

 We use adverbs of manner after the verb but if there is an object, the adverb goes after
verb + object (passed the test).

3The people in this company work very _____.

 a. hardcorrect
 b. hardly
 c. good

 This question was not answered

 We need an adverb of manner because it goes after the verb (work).

 Good is an adjective (well is the adverb), and *hardly is NOT an adverb of
manner. Hard can be an adjective or an adverb.
 There are some adverbs that have the same form as the adjectives: fast, hard, early,
late, right, wrong.

4She is a _____ teacher.

 a. well
 b. goodcorrect
 c. goodly
  This question was not answered

 We use adjectives before the noun (good teacher).

 Good is an adjective and well is an adverb, but the word *goodly does not exist.

5She teaches English very _____.

 a. good
 b. goodly
 c. wellcorrect

 This question was not answered

 We use adverbs after the verb or verb + object (teaches English).

 Good is an adjective and well is an adverb, but the word *goodly does not exist.

6You answered _____.

 a. correctly the question

 b. the question correctlycorrect
 c. the question correct

 This question was not answered

 We use adverbs of manner after the verb but if there is an object, the adverb goes after
verb + object (answered the question).
 We need an adverb, and for this reason, we cannot use correct here. Correct is an
adjective.

7The article describes the situation very _____.

 a. simple
 b. simplely
 c. simplycorrect

 This question was not answered

 We need an adverb because it goes after verb + object (describes the situation)

 Adjectives ending in -le change -e to -y to become adverbs. (simple >
simply). *Simplily does not exist.

8They live _____ in Munich.

 a. happy
 b. happyly
 c. happilycorrect
  This question was not answered

 We need an adverb because it goes after the verb (live).

 Adjectives ending in -y change -y to -i and add -ly to become adverbs. (happy >
happily). *Happyly is incorrect.

9After the break, we _____.

 a. finished the job easilycorrect

 b. easily finished the job
 c. finished the job easy

 This question was not answered

 We use adverbs of manner after the verb but if there is an object, the adverb goes after
verb + object (finished the job).
 We need an adverb, and for this reason, we cannot use easy here. Easy is an adjective.

10He didn't speak _____ English.

 a. clearly
 b. clearcorrect
 c. well

 This question was not answered

 In this sentence we use adjective + noun (clear English).

 We use adverbs of manner after the verb but if there is an object, the adverb goes after
verb + object.
 We can also say verb + object + adverb: He didn't speak English clearly/well. (NOT He
didn't speak clearly/well English).

Exercise 3
Complete the sentences using adjectives or adverbs. Use the adjectives in the list
and the adverbs formed from those adjectives.

clear      easy      fast      incorrect      patient      quick

EXAMPLE: I need a  quick  answer.

EXAMPLE: He answered my question very  quickly

 

You have completed this test.

Correct answers: 0/10.

Your score is 0%.

Check your answers:

 

1Please, can you speak [no answer]  ? I don't understand you.

Correct answer: clearly
 We use adverbs of manner after the verb (speak clearly).

2He won the race. He ran very [no answer]  .

Correct answer: fast
 We use adverbs of manner after the verb (ran)
 Fast can be an adjective or an adverb.
 There are some adverbs that have the same form as the adjectives: fast, hard,
early, late, right, wrong.

3Your answer is [no answer]  . Can you answer it again?

Correct answer: incorrect
 We use adjectives before the noun or after be (is).

4We were one hour late, but he waited [no answer]   until we arrived.
Correct answer: patiently
 We use adverbs of manner after the verb (waited patiently) .

5It was an [no answer]   question. I answered it without thinking.

Correct answer: easy
 We use adjectives before the noun (easy question).
6You answered the question [no answer]  . Can you answer it again?
Correct answer: incorrectly
 We use adverbs of manner after the verb or verb + object (answered the
question).

7Please, be [no answer]   with him. He's young and inexperienced.

Correct answer: patient
 We use adjectives before the noun or after be (be patient).

8He's a really [no answer]   runner. He wins a lot of races.

Correct answer: fast
 We use adjectives before a noun (fast runner)
 Fast can be an adjective or an adverb.
 There are some adverbs that have the same form as the adjectives: fast, hard,
early, late, right, wrong.

9The water isn't [no answer]  ; it's dirty.

Correct answer: clear
 We use adjectives before the noun or after be (isn't clear).

10We climbed the mountain [no answer]  . We weren't tired after doing it.
Correct answer: easily
 We use adverbs of manner after the verb or verb + object (climbed the
mountain).