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Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner contain the largest list of adverbs, there are loads! They tell us how something happened. Normally, adverbs of manner can be constructed by simply adding –ly to the corresponding adjective, although sometimes there can be variations in spelling in a few adverbs.

Sample adjectives converted to adverbs of manner

  • happyhappily; I happily told him what to do.
  • Nicenicely; They were playing nicely amongst themselves.
  • bravebravely; The Spartans bravely won the battle.
  • clearclearly; I clearly explained to you the problem.
  • honesthonestly; She’s honestly telling the truth.
  • powerfulpowerfully; The horse powerfully rode through the sand.
  • slowslowly; You’ll get there eventually, but you’re going slowly.

There are a few adjectives in English that take the same form as the adverb

  • Hard/hard
  • straight/straight
  • late/late
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Adverbs of manner with context and analysis

  • Yesterday1, I was happily2 going about my work when a colleague of mine3 had clearly4 interrupted me by speaking loudly5 on his phone. I honestly6 find this type of behaviour quite rude.
  • I’m terribly7 sorry to hear that, Katie. Perhaps next time you could politely8 ask your colleague to speak a little more quietly9. Surely, there are other people in the office that get annoyed by it also?
  • There certainly is, and it’s hardly10 appropriate to speak so loudly11 on the phone, and especially in the office. I’ve already talked to a couple of the girls next to me, and they’re also regularly12 getting annoyed at the excessive noise.
  • I think you’re going to have to talk to him and just ask him to politely13 be a little quieter14 when speaking on the phone.
  • I’ll be sure to ask him, so we’ll see what happens.
  • Good luck.
  • Thanks. 

Analysis

  1. Yesterday:  an adverb of time. Yesterday, is an expression of time. Expressions of time can go either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end, depending on where you want to put the emphasis. (at the beginning is more emphatic).
  2. Happily: an adverb of manner. The adjective is happy, so the y changes to -ily to form the adverb of manner.
  3. Mine: a possessive pronoun. That house is mine. My phone is mine.
  4. Clearly: an adverb of manner. The adjective is clear. The adverb of manner is formed by just adding -ly to the infinitive.
  5. Loudly: an adverb of manner. The adjective is loud. The adverb of manner is formed by adding -ly to the infinitive.
  6. Honestly: is an adverb of manner. The adjective is honest. -ly is added to the infinitive to form the adverb of manner.
  7. Terribly: is the adverb of manner. The adjective is terrible. -ly is added after the b to form the adverb of manner.
  8. Politely: is the adverb of manner, it tells us how the action occurred.
  9. Quietly: is the adverb of manner. Remember, adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. So quietly is modifying the verb; speak.
  10. Hardly: an adverb of manner. This is what we call in English a ‘’false friend’’ in English, because even though the adjective is hard, hardly does not come from, hard. They are completely different and have no relation with each other.
  11. Loudly: an adverb of manner. The adjective is loud. Add -ly to form the adverb of manner, which tells us HOW the action happened.
  12. Regularly: an adverb of manner.
  13. Politely: -ly is added to the adjective polite to form the adverb of manner; politely.
  14. Quieter: is the comparative form of the adjective quiet. The superlative form is: the quietest.

See also