THE ADVERB

The adverbs and the adjectives in English

Adjectives tell us something about a person or a thing. Adjectives can modify nouns (here: girl) or
pronouns (here: she).

Adverbs tell us in what way someone does something. Adverbs can modify verbs (here: drive),
adjectives or other adverbs.

adjective adverb

Mandy is a careful girl. Mandy drives carefully.

She is very careful. She drives carefully.

Mandy is a careful driver. This sentence is about Mandy, the driver, so use the adjective.

Mandy drives carefully. This sentence is about her way of driving, so use the adverb.

2. Form

Adjective + -ly

adjective adverb

dangerous dangerously

careful carefully

nice nicely

horrible horribly

easy easily

electronic electronically

Irregular forms:

adjective adverb

good well

fast fast
 adjective adverb

hard hard

If the adjective ends in -y, change -y to -i. Then add -ly:

 happy – happily

but:

 shy – shyly

If the adjective ends in -le, the adverb ends in -ly:

 terrible – terribly

If the adjective ends in -e, then add -ly:

 safe – safely

► Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs:

 adjectives ending in -ly: friendly, silly, lonely, ugly

 nouns, ending in -ly: ally, bully, Italy, melancholy

 verbs, ending in -ly: apply, rely, supply

There is no adverb for an adjective ending in –ly.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS

1. One-syllable adverbs: add -er

If an adverb has only one syllable, we usually just add -er to make it comparative: fast →  faster.
Here are some examples:

adver comparative adverb

b

fast faster

hard harder

high higher

late later
 long longer

low lower

wide wider

Note that most one-syllable adverbs have the same form as their equivalent adjectives. Don't let
this confuse you. For example:

  positive comparative

adjective a fast car a faster car

adverb he he drives faster
drives fast

2. Two-syllable adverbs: use more

When an adverb has two or more syllables (like all -ly adverbs), we can make it comparative by

adding more in front: quickly →  more quickly. Look at these examples:

adverb comparative adverb

carefully more carefully

efficiently more efficiently

happily more happily

horribly more horribly

often more often

quickly more quickly

recently more recently

slowly more slowly

 sadly more sadly

strangely more strangely

We can also use less in place of more to suggest a reduction in the action. Look at these examples:

sentence for example

She visits often. once a week

Now she visits more  often. once a day

↑

Now she visits less  often. ↓ once a month

3. Irregular Adverbs

A few adverbs have irregular form, for example:

adver comparative adverb

b

badly worse

early earlier

far further/farther

little less

much more

well better

Comparative Adverbs with Informal Forms

Note that a few adverbs have a formal ("correct") form with -ly and an informal form without -ly.
The same is then true of their comparative forms. Although you may hear some native speakers
using the informal form in speech, it is best avoided in formal situations and examinations. The most
common examples are:
adverb comparative adverb

cheap/cheapl cheaper/more cheaply

y

loud/loudly louder/more loudly

quick/quickly quicker/more quickly

slow/slowly slower/more slowly