Formation Of Adverbs

Adverbs of manner are usually formed by adding -ly to the adjective. Examples are given below.

• Kind (adjective) – kindly (adverb)
• Pleasant – pleasantly
• Foolish – foolishly
• Clever – cleverly
• Wise – wisely
• Quick – quickly
• Right – rightly
• Eager – eagerly
• Anxious – anxiously
• Careless – carelessly
• Ignorant – ignorantly
• Beautiful – beautifully
• Genuine – genuinely
• Bold – boldly
• Courageous – courageously
• Clear – clearly
• Stupid – stupidly
• Innocent – innocently
• Efficient – efficiently
• When an adjective ends in ‘le’ change ‘e’ into ‘y’.
• Double – doubly
• Heavy – heavily

When adjectives ending in -y are preceded by a consonant, change the -y into -i and add -ly.

• Ready – readily
• Heavy – heavily

Some adverbs are made up of a noun and a qualifying adjective.

Examples are: meantime, meanwhile, otherwise, elsewhere, sometimes, yesterday

Some adverbs are compounds of a preposition and an adjective.

Worksheet

Fill in the blanks with an adverb.

1. He was …………………….. injured in the accident. (fatal)
2. I do not ……………………. entertain such requests. (normal)
3. He drives too ……………………… (fast)
4. She was ……………………….. quiet. (unusual)
5. She ……………………. finished her meal. (quick)
6. It is raining …………………….. (hard)
7. It ………………….. rained last month. (hard)
8. The wind was blowing ………………………. (fierce)
9. I …………………….. trusted him. (stupid)
10. We ……………………. see wild animals in urban areas. (rare)

Answers

1. fatally, 2. normally, 3. fast (fast can be an adjective or adverb), 4. unusually, 5. quickly, 6. hard, 7. hardly, 8. fiercely, 9. stupidly, 10. rarely