Forming Adverbs from Adjectives
Forming Adverbs from Adjectives
Here are some guidelines on forming adverbs from adjectives:
- In a large number of the cases, the adverb can be formed by simply adding ‘-ly’ to the adjective.
| ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
| Cheap | Cheaply |
| Quick | Quickly |
| Strong | Strong |
- If the adjective ends in with ‘y’, replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and add ‘-ly’.
| ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
| Ready | Readily |
| Merry | Merrily |
| Easy | Easily |
- If the adjective ends with ‘-le’, replace the ‘e’ at the end with ‘y’.
| ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
| Understandable | Understandably |
| Forcible | Forcibly |
| Possible | Possibly |
- If the adjective ends with ‘-ic’, add ‘-ally’.
| ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
| Idiotic | Idiotically |
| Tragic | Tragically |
| Basic | Basically |
An exception to this rule is ‘public’, whose adverbial form is ‘publicly’.
- Some adjectives do not change form at all.
| ADJECTIVE | ADVERB |
| Fast | Fast |
| Straight | Straight |
| Hard | Hard |
- In the case of the adjective ‘good’, the corresponding adverb is ‘well’.
