You are on page 1of 11

Adverb Form

We make many adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective, for example:


quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)
careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)
There are some basic rules about spelling for -ly adverbs. See the table below:
Adjective ending do this adjective adverb
most adjectives add -ly quick
nice
sole
careful
quickly
nicely
solely
carefully
-able or -ible change -e to -y regrettable
horrible
regrettably
horribly
-y change -y to -ily happy happily
-ic change -ic to -ically economic economically
But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. The
words friendly, lovely, lonely and neighbourly, for example, are all adjectives.
And some adverbs have no particular form. Look at these examples:
well, fast, very, never, always, often, still
Note that the form of an adverb can also change to make it comparative or
superlative.


Adverbs of Frequency | Adverbs of Definite Frequency
Adverbs of Indefinite Frequency | Adverbs of Frequency Quiz
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question "How
frequently?" or "How often?". They tell us how often something happens. Here are
some examples:
a. daily, weekly, yearly
b. often, sometimes, rarely
You probably see a difference between a) and b) above. With words like daily we
know exactly how often. The words in a) describe definite frequency. On the
other hand, words like often give us an idea about frequency but they don't tell us
exactly. The words in b) describe indefinite frequency.
We separate them into two groups because they normally go in different positions
in the sentence.
Adverbs of definite frequency
Examples:
hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
every second, once a minute, twice a year
once, twice, once or twice, three times
Adverbs of definite frequency, like all adverbs of definite time, typically go in END
position. Look at these examples:
Most companies pay taxes yearly.
The manager checks the toilets every hour.
The directors meet weekly to review progress.
Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of definite
frequency may go at the FRONT, for example:
Every day, more than five thousand people die on our roads.











Adverbs of indefinite frequency
Examples:
never, seldom, sometimes, often, always
Adverbs of indefinite frequency mainly go in MID
position in the sentence. They go before the main
verb (except the main verb "to be"):
We usually go shopping on Saturday.
I have often done that.
She is always late.

Occasionally, sometimes, often, frequently an
d usually can also go at the beginning or end
of a sentence:
Sometimes they come and stay with us.
I play tennis occasionally.
Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a
sentence (often with "very"):
We see them rarely.
John eats meat very seldom.













100% always, constantly
usually, normally
frequently, regularly
often

50%
sometimes
occasionally
rarely, infrequently
seldom
hardly ever
0% never
GLI AVVERBI
She is walkingslowly.
He is very tall.

Quando si usano
Uso dellavverbio Esempio
Un avverbio pu
accompagnare un verbo e
viene utilizzato per completare
o precisare il significato
dellazione espressa dal verbo.
Mary is walking slowly.
Mary cammina lentamente.
Lavverbio slowly utilizzato per
descrivere in che modo Mary sta
camminando.
Un avverbio pu
accompagnare un aggettivo o
un verbo al participio passato
modificandone o precisandone
il significato.
Mark is very tall.
Mark molto alto.
Lavverbio very accompagna
laggettivo tall.
He was seriously injured in the
accident.
stato gravemente ferito
nellincidente.
Lavverbio seriously accompagna il
participio passato injured per
completarne il significato.
Un avverbio pu essere
utilizzato per precisare o
modificare il significato di un
altro avverbio.
Its very late!
molto tardi!
Lavverbio very accompagna
lavverbio di tempo late.

Come si formano
Come si forma lavverbio Esempio
La maggior parte degli avverbi di
modo si forma aggiungendo il
suffisso ly al corrispondente
aggettivo.

Gli aggettivi che terminano per -
careful >>> carefully
(attento, attentamente)
quick >>> quickly
(veloce, velocemente)

happy >>> happily
ycambiano la y in i prima del
suffisso ly.
Gli aggettivi che terminano per
lepreceduta da consonante
perdono la e prima del suffisso ly.
Gli aggettivi che terminano per
lpreceduta da vocale raddoppiano
la l prima del suffisso ly.
(felice, felicemente)

probable >>> probably
(probabile, probabilmente)


final >>> finally
(finale, finalmente)
Alcuni avverbi mantengono la
stessa forma dellaggettivo.
fast (veloce, velocemente)
hard* (duro, duramente)
straight (dritto, direttamente)
late* (tardo, tardi)
early (precoce, presto / in anticipo)
Lavverbio corrispondente
allaggettivo good
completamente diverso
dallaggettivo.
good >>> well (buono, bene)
Alla maggior parte degli avverbi di
tempo e di luogo non corrisponde
alcun aggettivo.
now (ora)
soon (presto)
today (oggi)
then (poi)
here (qui)
there (l)
up (su)
down (gi)
*ATTENZIONE

Questi aggettivi hanno anche una forma avverbiale in ly, che assume tuttavia
un significato diverso da quello del corrispondente aggettivo.

Lately = recently = recentemente
Hardly = a mala pena/a stento.





Complete these sentences with the correct form of the adverbs
Puoi scrivere le tue risposte nelle caselle di testo (attenzione: non vengono
memorizzate!)
Per vedere le risposte corrette, seleziona con il mouse lo spazio bianco dopo il
simbolo
Se vuoi ulteriori spiegazioni, chiedicele utilizzando la sezione interattiva DISQUS
pi sotto
1) Ben is reading the instructions (careful).
Ben is reading the instructions carefully.
2) He was walking (happy) along the road.
He was walking happily along the road.
3) Why are you driving so (fast)?
Why are you driving so fast?
4) You have to work (hard)!
You have to work hard!
5) Shes a good secretary. She works (good).
Shes a good secretary. She works well.
6) Please, speak (slow). I cant understand you.
Please, speak slowly. I cant understand you.
7) He acted (stupid) and got punished for it.
He acted stupidly and got punished for it.
8) Meg was very (friend) with my parents.
Meg was very friendly with my parents.
9) Please, come (quick).
Please, come quickly.
10) Stephen slept (bad) last night.
Stephen slept badly last night.








Complete these sentences with the correct form of the adverbs
Puoi scrivere le tue risposte nelle caselle di testo (attenzione: non vengono memorizzate!)
Per vedere le risposte corrette, seleziona con il mouse lo spazio bianco dopo il simbolo
Se vuoi ulteriori spiegazioni, chiedicele utilizzando la sezione interattiva DISQUS pi sotto
1) Ben is reading the instructions (careful).
Ben is reading the instructions carefully.
2) He was walking (happy) along the road.
He was walking happily along the road.
3) Why are you driving so (fast)?
Why are you driving so fast?
4) You have to work (hard)!
You have to work hard!
5) Shes a good secretary. She works (good).
Shes a good secretary. She works well.
6) Please, speak (slow). I cant understand you.
Please, speak slowly. I cant understand you.
7) He acted (stupid) and got punished for it.
He acted stupidly and got punished for it.
8) Meg was very (friend) with my parents.
Meg was very friendly with my parents.
9) Please, come (quick).
Please, come quickly.
10) Stephen slept (bad) last night.
Stephen slept badly last night.

You might also like