English Grammar
ADVERBS
Formation and Position of Adverbs
Adverbs are used to say
how, how often, where or
in what manner we do something.
- She danced gracefully.
- They were all chatting happily when we arrived.
- He drove carefully along the icy road.
- The technician explained the problem very clearly.
- Tom often travels by train.
- The children are playing outside.
- Jane really likes that band.
| Formation of Adverbs | Adjective | Adverb |
| Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective. | slow quick wide |
slowly quickly widely |
| If the adjective ends in -l: double the l: |
careful hopeful graceful |
carefully hopefully gracefully |
| If the adjective ends in -y: change the y to i: |
busy easy lucky |
busily easily luckily |
| If the adjective ends in -able, -ible, or -le: replace the final -e with -y. |
probable incredible humble |
probably incrediibly humbly |
| If the adjective ends in -ic: add -ally. Except: public → publicly |
basic dynamic energetic |
basically dynamically energetically |
| Some exceptions: |
good hard fast early late daily straight |
well hard fast early late daily straight |
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Please note: Although they end in -ly, the following words are adjectives, NOT adverbs : friendly, lively, lonely, lovely, silly, ugly for example : a friendly person, a silly remark, an ugly duckling, and so on ... |
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Position of Adverbs
Different types of adverbs go in different positions.
| Type | Position | Example |
| manner | Usually go after the verb, or after the verb and the object. | He spoke clearly. He read the instructions carefully. He read carefully the instructions |
| If the object is long, the adverb can go before the verb. | He slowly moved the newspaper and picked up the book. | |
| frequency | They go after the verb ‘be’. | Tom is often late. |
| They go before all other verbs. | Eva sometimes takes the bus. | |
| Between two verbs if there are two. | You can always change it later. | |
| After the first verb if there are more than two. | I would never have found the way. | |
| Before two verbs if the second verb is an infinitive. | We generally try to eat healthy food. | |
| Frequency phrases (e.g. once a week) go at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. | Every so often Anna goes to the library. She plays tennis once a week. |
|
| place | Here, there, inside,etc. usually go at the end of a sentence. | Come and sit here. They are waiting inside. |
| degree | Really, quite, etc. usually go before the verb. If there are two verbs they go between. A lot, very much, etc. go at the end. |
I really love that dress. I would just like a glass of water. He watches television a lot. |