Adverbs of Manner, Time & Place

Adverbs are words that describe how, when or where an action happens. In P2, you learnt to spot adverbs in sentences. Now you will learn how to form adverbs from adjectives and use a wider range of manner, time and place adverbs in your writing.

What You'll Learn

• How to change adjectives into adverbs by adding -ly
• Special spelling rules when forming -ly adverbs
• A bigger collection of manner, time and place adverbs to use in sentences

When to Use

1. To describe how someone does something (manner): "The dancer moved gracefully across the stage."
2. To say when something happened (time): "We visited the Singapore Zoo recently."
3. To tell where something happened (place): "The children gathered nearby to watch the show."
4. To make your writing more interesting: Instead of "She walked home," write "She walked home slowly." The adverb paints a clearer picture.

How to Form

Turning Adjectives into Adverbs with -ly

Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding -ly to an adjective.

Special Spelling Rules for -ly

Some adjectives need a small spelling change before you add -ly.

Adverbs That Do Not Follow the -ly Rule

Some adverbs look the same as their adjective form. Do not add -ly to these words.

More Adverbs of Time and Place

Key Rules

1. Most manner adverbs end in -ly: To describe how something is done, add -ly to the adjective. "Neat" becomes "neatly". "Slow" becomes "slowly".

2. Watch the spelling changes: If the adjective ends in -y, change it to -i before adding -ly. "Easy" becomes "easily", not "easyly".

3. -le becomes -ly: If the adjective ends in -le, drop the -e and add -y. "Possible" becomes "possibly", not "possiblely".

4. Some adverbs stay the same as adjectives: Words like fast, hard, early and late do not change. Do not write "fastly" or "hardly" (which means something different!).

5. Manner adverbs usually go after the verb: Place the adverb after the verb or after the object. "She spoke clearly." or "She read the book carefully."

Common Mistakes

Clue Words

Manner adverbs (how?)

slowly, quickly, quietly, loudly, carefully, neatly, happily, sadly, politely, bravely, gently, cheerfully, gracefully

Time adverbs (when?)

yesterday, today, tomorrow, now, soon, recently, already, later, tonight, earlier, just now

Place adverbs (where?)

here, there, outside, inside, nearby, upstairs, downstairs, everywhere, away, abroad

Adjective endings that signal an -ly adverb

-ful (careful -> carefully), -ous (dangerous -> dangerously), -ive (active -> actively)

Tip: To check if a word is an adverb, ask: "Does it tell me HOW, WHEN or WHERE?" If it tells you HOW, it probably ends in -ly. Try adding -ly to the adjective and see if it sounds right!

Practice Tips

1. The -ly check: When you see a manner adverb in a sentence, find the adjective it came from. Check whether you need any special spelling changes (y to i, drop le, add ally).
2. Swap and compare: Take a sentence like "The bird sang." Try adding different manner adverbs: "The bird sang sweetly / loudly / softly." Notice how the meaning changes.
3. Spot the trap words: Make a list of adverbs that do NOT end in -ly (fast, hard, early, late). These are easy to get wrong in a test because students try to add -ly to them.
4. Colour-code your adverbs: When you write a story, underline manner adverbs in blue, time adverbs in red and place adverbs in green. This helps you see which types you use most.

Quick Reference

Forming -ly Adverbs

Adverb Types at a Glance