Forming Adverbs

Adverbs describe how something is done. You can form most adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective — but some adverbs are irregular and follow their own rules.

What You'll Learn

• How to add -ly to adjectives to form adverbs (quick -> quickly)
• The spelling rules for adding -ly to different types of adjectives
• Important irregular adverb forms (good -> well, fast -> fast)

When to Use

1. When a sentence asks how an action is done: "She solved the puzzle quickly." (How did she solve it?)
2. When you see a base word in brackets and need the adverb form: "The choir sang (beautiful) -> beautifully."
3. When you need to fill in a blank that describes a verb: "He crossed the road ___." -> carefully
4. When the adjective form would be wrong after an action verb: "She writes neatly." (Not "She writes neat.")

How to Form

The Basic Rule: Add -ly

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective.

Spelling Changes When Adding -ly

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

Irregular Adverb Forms

These adverbs do not follow the -ly rule. You must memorise them.

Key Rules

1. Add -ly for most adjectives: The most common way to form an adverb is to add -ly to the adjective. "Quiet" becomes "quietly". "Neat" becomes "neatly".

2. Change y to i before -ly: If the adjective ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i first. "Easy" becomes "easily", not "easyly".

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

4. "Good" becomes "well": This is the most important irregular pair. "She is a good singer." -> "She sings well." Never write "goodly".

5. Some adverbs have the same form as the adjective: Words like fast, hard, early and late do not change. "He is a fast runner." -> "He runs fast." Never write "fastly".

Common Mistakes

Clue Words

Common adjective-to-adverb pairs

quick -> quickly, slow -> slowly, quiet -> quietly, loud -> loudly, careful -> carefully, neat -> neatly, brave -> bravely, polite -> politely, cheerful -> cheerfully, beautiful -> beautifully

Irregular pairs to memorise

good -> well, fast -> fast, hard -> hard, early -> early, late -> late

Adjective endings that signal a spelling change

-y (happy -> happily), -le (gentle -> gently), -ful (cheerful -> cheerfully), -ic (basic -> basically)

Tip: If you see a word in brackets and need to change it to an adverb, try adding -ly first. If it sounds wrong, check whether the word is irregular (good, fast, hard, early, late) or needs a spelling change (-y, -le, -ic).

Practice Tips

1. The bracket test: When you see a base word in brackets, ask "Does this word describe HOW something is done?" If yes, you need the adverb form. Try forming it with -ly, then check for spelling changes or irregular forms.

2. Flash-card the irregulars: Write "good -> well", "fast -> fast", "hard -> hard", "early -> early" and "late -> late" on flash cards. Test yourself until you can recall them without thinking.

3. Watch out for "hard" vs "hardly": "Hard" (adverb) means with a lot of effort. "Hardly" means almost not at all. "He hardly studied" means he did very little studying — the opposite of "He studied hard".

4. Spell it out: For tricky words, write the adjective, apply the rule step by step, then check. For "happy": remove the y, write "happi", add -ly = "happily".

Quick Reference

How to Form an Adverb

Key Irregular Adverbs