Adverbs from Adjectives
In English, adverbs play a crucial role in adding detail to your sentences. We typically form adverbs by adding ‑ly to adjectives, like turning 'quick' into 'quickly.' However, this transformation comes with several important spelling rules. This guide breaks down adverb word formation, covering the basic rules, exceptions, and tricky cases with plenty of examples to help you use them correctly.
How to form
For most adjectives simply add ‑ly. This is the most common and straightforward rule.
- slow → slowly
- sad → sadly
- quick → quickly
If the adjective ends with a consonant + ‑y, change ‑y to ‑i and then add ‑ly.
- happy → happily
- easy → easily
- angry → angrily
If the adjective ends with a consonant + ‑le, simply change the ‑e to ‑y.
- gentle → gently
- simple → simply
- terrible → terribly
If the adjective ends in ‑ic, you usually add ‑ally (not just ‑ly).
- basic → basically
- specific → specifically
- fantastic → fantastically
- public → publicly
For most adjectives ending in ‑e, you simply add ‑ly (as in Rule 1). But we have some special words that do not obey this rule. For these words, you must drop the ‑e before adding ‑ly. You need to memorize them because they are common exceptions.
- true → truly
- due → duly
- whole → wholly
Some adjectives are already adverbs and do not change from their adjective form. You must memorize these because adding -ly would be wrong.
- fast
- straight
- far
- long
- early
