Formation Of Adverbs

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to their corresponding adjectives. Examples are: kindly (kind), slowly (slow), hardly (hard), sweetly (sweet) etc.

• She is very beautiful (adjective).
• She is beautifully (adverb) dressed.
• He is a strange (adjective) person.
• He behaved strangely (adverb).

Points to be noted

1. If the adjective ends in -y, replace it with -i and then add -ly.

Adjective / Adverb

happy / happily
angry / angrily
lucky / luckily

2. If the adjective ends in -able, -ible, or -le, replace the -e with -y.

Adjective / Adverb
probable  / probably
gentle  / gently
humble / humbly

3. If the adjective ends in -ic, add -ally.

Adjective / Adverb
basic / basically
economic / economically

This rule, however, has an exception. The adverb formed from public is publicly, and not publically.