Adverbs – Formation and Meaning

Adverbs – formation and meaning.

We normally use adverbs to modify a verb, adjective, another adverb or even an entire sentence. Most of them are built by adding ‘-ly’ to the adjective.

For example:

• The opera singer is a beautiful lady.
• She also sings beautifully.

Comparison of adverbs

Adverbs can also be compared by putting ‘more’ and ‘most’ before them.

For example:

• He tried to walk more quietly as the baby was sleeping.
• Paul won the race because he ran most quickly.

Irregular forms

Analyse the sentence:

I could hardly stand.

Is the word hardly an adjective or an adverb? How is it formed?
Remember:

1. Adverbs are normally formed by adding -ly to the corresponding adjective; e.g. easy – easily, quiet – quietly, successful – successfully
2. A few adverbs have the same form as the corresponding adjectives: e.g. fast, late, near, hard, high, early, etc.
3. The forms lately, nearly, hardly, deeply, highly also exist, but have a narrower meaning than their corresponding adjectives:

lately = recently

deeply = profoundly

nearly = almost

hardly = scarcely, almost not, with difficulty

Exercise

Fill in the missing adverb and explain the difference in meaning between the adjective and the adverb.

1. John is a hard worker, but Mary ________ ever does any work in the house.
2. He is a near relative of mine. I think about him ________ all the time.
3. It’s a very simple dish. I ________ can’t believe that you can’t make it.
4. He touched it with his bare hands. He _________ noticed the difference.
5. Potatoes are scarce. You can ________ find them anywhere.
6. This is the first real letter I’ve received from you. I ________ enjoyed reading it.

(Answers: 1. hardly, 2. nearly, 3. simply, 4. barely, 5. scarcely, 6. really)

If you really want to learn English but don’t know how to do it and where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will help you continue your learning where you once stopped. Book a free online English lesson with one of our expert native English teachers and take a test and consultation.
Choose the app that suits you best for your lessons: Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber.
Join us for 30-minute conversation sessions. We are organizing conversation lessons at a 30% discount. You can take 8 monthly lessons for only 75 euros.

Drop us a line on WhatsApp