Words Used as Both Adjectives and Adverbs

There are several words which are used both as adjectives and as adverbs.
Some adjectives formed by adding ly to nouns are also used as adverbs.
Examples are: early, daily, weekly, yearly, hourly, quarterly, half-yearly etc.
This is a weekly journal. (Here the adjective weekly modifies the noun journal.)
It comes out weekly. (Here the adverb weekly modifies the verb comes.)
We boarded an early train. (Here the adjective early modifies the noun train.)
I get up early. (Here the adverb early modifies the verb get up.)
Adjectives ending in -ly
Note that the following words can be used only as adjectives and not as adverbs: beastly, costly, cowardly, deadly,
friendly, likely, brotherly, kingly, leisurely, lovely, lively, womanly, princely, scholarly, silly, ugly and unlikely.
She offered some friendly advice. (Here the adjective friendly modifies the noun advice.)
There are no adverbs friendly/friendlily. Instead we use an adverb phrase.
She offered some advice in a friendly manner.
Words used both as Adjectives and Adverbs
The following words may be used both as adjectives and adverbs. Some examples are given below; for more detailed
information, check in a good dictionary.
Fast
Modern man leads a fast life. (Here the adjective fast modifies the noun life.)
He drove the car fast. (Here the adverb fast modifies the verb drove.)
Half
Each of us has half ownership in the property. (Here the adjective half modifies the noun ownership.)
She was half crying, half laughing. (Here the adverb half modifies the verbs crying and laughing.)
She is half Spanish, half French. (Here the adverb half modifies the adjectives Spanish and French.)
Straight
Dont expect to get a straight answer from her. (Here the adjective straight modifies the noun answer.)
She went straight home. (Here the adverb straight modifies the verb went.)
Just
The train just left. (Adverb)
He arrived just in time. (Adverb)
God is just. (Adjective)
Late
The meeting is scheduled for late evening. (Adjective)
He arrived late. (Adverb)
She worked late. (Adverb)
Low
We are low on supplies. (Adjective)
Her voice was low. (Adjective)
She turned the gas down low. (Adverb)
The helicopter flew low over the trees. (Adverb)
Most
This is the most expensive gadget I have bought. (Adverb)
Most people enjoy playing with kids. (Adjective)
Clear
They moved clear across the country. (Adverb)
She has a clear complexion. (Adjective)
Clean
He is very clean in his habits. (Adjective)
We want to play the game clean. (Adverb)

The Difference between Adjectives and Adverbs

The Basic Rules: Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns. To modify means to change in some way. By modifying, adjectives
give more detail about the noun. For example:

"I ate a meal." Meal is a noun. The reader does not know what kind of meal
this is, leaving a lot of room open for interpretation.

"I ate an enormous meal." Meal is a noun, and enormous is an adjective that
modifies it. It tells us what kind of meal the person ate. By using adjectives,
the writer gives the reader a better understanding of the noun.

Adjectives clarify the noun by answering one of the following different questions: "What kind?"
or "Which?" or "How many?" For example:

"The tall girl is riding her bike." Tall tells the reader which girl the writer is
talking about.

Our old van needs to be replaced soon. Old tells the reader what kind
of van the writer is describing.

"The tough professor gave us the final exam." Tough tells the reader what
kind of professor we're talking about. Final tells the reader which exam.

"Fifteen students passed the midterm exam; twelve students passed the final
exam." Fifteen and twelve both tell the reader how
many students; midterm and final both tell the reader which exam.

So, generally speaking, adjectives answer the following questions:

Which?

What kind of?

How many?

Some Other Rules for Adjectives

Most of the time, adjectives come before nouns. However, some adjectives actually come after
the nouns they modify. These adjectives will most often follow a verb from this list:

be

feel

taste

smell
 sound

look

appear

seem

Some examples:

"The dog is black." Black is an adjective that modifies the noun dog, but it
comes after the verb is. (Remember that "is" is a form of the verb "be.") What
kind of dog is it? A black dog.

"Brian seems sad." Sad describes the noun, Brian, not the
verb, seems. Sad answers the question which way does Brian seem?

"The milk smells rotten." What kind of smell does the milk have? A rotten
one.

"The speaker sounds hoarse." Hoarse answers the question which way does
the speaker sound?

The ice-cream looks melted. Here, melted does not describe the verb looks.
It describes the noun ice cream. What kind of ice cream does it look like?
Melted ice cream.

Alex feels sleepy. What kind of way does Alex feel? Sleepy.

The Basic Rules: Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. (You can recognize adverbs easily because
many of them are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, though that is not always the case.) The
most common question that adverbs answer is how.

Let's look at verbs first.

"She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies sang. It tells the
reader how she sang.

"The cellist played carelessly." Carelessly is an adverb that modifies played. It

tells the reader how the cellist played.

Adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs.

"That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an adjective that modifies the

noun woman. Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice; it tells the
reader how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice.
 "It was a terribly hot afternoon." Hot is an adjective that modifies the
noun afternoon. Terribly is an adverb that modifies the adjective hot. How hot
is it? Terribly hot.

Adverbs answer the question how. They can also answer the questions when, where, and why.

She arrived late. Late describes when she arrived.

They all went there for the party. There is where they all went to the party.

The swim team practices every morning to develop good habits. To develop
good habits acts as an adverbial infinitive phrase that explains why the swim
team practices every morning. Answering the question why usually requires
an infinitive phrase.

In general, adverbs answer the following questions:

How?

When?

Where?

Why?

Examples of Differences between Adjectives and Adverbs

Be sure to note the differences between the following examples:

"The dog smells clean." Here, clean describes the dog itself. It's not that he smells something
clean; it's that he's had a bath and does not stink. Clean describes what kind of smell comes from
the dog making it an adjective.

"The dog smells carefully." Here, carefully describes how the dog smells, making it an adverb.
We imagine him sniffing cautiously.

Or:

Kai dressed for the quick recital. Here, quick describes the noun, recital, making it
an adjective. What kind of recital? A quick one.

Kai dressed quickly for the recital. Quickly describes the way Kai dressed, making it
an adverb because it modifies the verb dressed. How did Kai dress? Quickly.

Or:

Look at the nice bed. Nice modifies the noun, bed, in this sentence, making it an adjective.
Look at the nicely made bed. Nicely modifies the adjective, made, in this sentence, making it
an adverb.

Or:

Joseph seems strange and upset. Strange and upset modify the proper noun, Joseph, in this
sentence, so strange and upset are both adjectives.

Joseph seems strangely upset. Strangely modifies the adjective, upset, in this sentence,
so strangely is an adverb.

In general, when a word has the ending -ly, it will act as an adverb. Pay close attention to how
the noun is modified, as this is the final criteria when deciding between an adjective and adverb.

Contributors:Paul Lynch, Allen Brizee, Maryam A. Ghafoor.

Summary:

This worksheet discusses the differences between adjectives and adverbs. It defines adjectives
and adverbs, shows what each can do, and offers several examples of each in use. Click here for
some examples.

Avoiding Common Errors

1. Bad or Badly?

When you want to describe how you feel, you should use an adjective So you'd say, "I
feel bad." Saying "I feel badly" would be like saying you play football badly. "I feel
badly" would mean that you are unable to feel, as though your hands were numb. Here
are some other examples:

o "The dog smells badly." Here, badly means that the dog does not do a
good job of smelling.

o "The dog smells bad." Here, "bad" means that dog needs a bath.

N.B. Sometimes people say "I feel badly" when they feel that they have done something
wrong. Let's say you dropped your friend's favorite dish, and it broke into a million
pieces. You might say, "I feel really badly about what happened."

2. Good or Well?

Good is an adjective, so you do not do good or live good, but you do well and live well.
Remember, though, that an adjective follows sense-verbs and be-verbs, so you also feel
good,look good, smell good, are good, have been good, etc. So:
 "My mother looks good." This does not mean that she has good eyesight; it means that
she appears healthy.

"I feel really good today." Again, this does not mean that I touch things successfully. It
means rather that I am happy or healthy.

N.B. Many people confuse this distinction in conversation, and that's okay. You will hear
people say, "I feel well" when they mean that they feel good. However, if you're talking
about action verbs, you'd say "well." "I did well on my exam." "She plays tennis well."

3. Sure or Surely?

Sure is an adjective, and surely is an adverb. For example:

o "He is sure about his answer." Sure describes he.

o "The Senator spoke out surely." Here, surely describes how the senator
spoke.

N.B. Surely can also be used as a sentence-adverb. For example, "Surely, you're joking."
Here, surely describes the entire sentence "you're joking." The sentence more or less
means, "You must be joking."

4. Near or Nearly?

Near can function as a verb, adverb, adjective, or preposition. Nearly is used as an adverb
to mean "in a close manner" or "almost but not quite." Here are some examples that
demonstrate the differences between various uses of near and nearly.

o "I'll be seeing you in the near future." Here, near describes the noun
"future."

o "The cat crept near." Near is an adverb that describes where the cat
crept.

o "Don't worry; we're nearly there." Here, nearly describes how close we
are.

Near can also be used as a verb and a preposition.

o "My graduation neared." Here, neared is the verb of the sentence.

o "I want the couch near the window." Near is a preposition at the head
of the phrase "near the window."
 ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB
THE DIFFERENCE

An adjective tells us more about a noun. Example: an expensive car, a clever girl

An adverb tells us more about a verb. Example: He talked nervously.

HOW TO FORM THE ADVERB

Adjective + ly

sad sadly quiet quietly

nervous nervously soft softly

Adjectives ending in -y ily

happy happily angry angrily

Adjectives ending in -le ly

terrible terribly capable capably

Adjectives ending in -ly

friendly in a friendly way / manner daily daily

lively in a lively way / manner early early

lonely in a lonely way / manner monthly monthly

lovely in a lovely way / manner weekly weekly

silly in a silly way / manner yearly yearly

 Irregular forms

good well low low

fast fast straight straight
hard hard extra extra
long long doubtless doubtless

Double forms

hard hard hardly = kaum

near near nearly = beinahe
late late lately = in letzter Zeit

HOW TO USE THE ADVERB

Verb + adverb

The adverb describes a verb.

Example: He drove carefully.

verb adverb
She sold her house quickly
verb adverb

Adjective + adverb

The adverb describes an adjective.

Example: Her necklacewas horribly expensive.

adverb adjective
She was terribly sorry.
 adverb adjective

Adverb + adverb

The adverb describes an adverb.

Example: They played terribly badly.

adverb adverb
He did his homework absolutely correctly.
adverb adverb

No adverb with the following verbs

Forms of to be: am, is, are, was, were, have been,

had been, will be
seem, get, turn, grow, sound, feel, taste, become,
smell, look (aussehen)

Definitions

An adjective is a word or set of words that modifies (i.e., describes) a

noun or pronoun. Adjectives may come before the word they modify.

Examples:
That is a cute puppy.
She likes a high school senior.

Adjectives may also follow the word they modify:

 Examples:
That puppy looks cute.
The technology is state-of-the-art.

An adverb is a word or set of words that modifies verbs, adjectives, or

other adverbs. Adverbs answer how, when, where, why, or to what extent
how often or how much (e.g., daily, completely).

Examples:
He speaks slowly (tells how)
He speaks very slowly (the adverb very tells how slowly)
She arrived today (tells when)
She will arrive in an hour (this adverb phrase tells when)
Let's go outside (tells where)
We looked in the basement (this adverb phrase tells where)
Bernie left to avoid trouble (this adverb phrase tells why)
Jorge works out strenuously (tells to what extent)
Jorge works out whenever possible (this adverb phrase tells to what
extent)

Rule 1. Many adverbs end in -ly, but many do not. Generally, if a word can
have -ly added to its adjective form, place it there to form an adverb.

Examples:
She thinks quick/quickly.
How does she think? Quickly.

She is a quick/quickly thinker.

Quick is an adjective describing thinker, so no -ly is attached.

She thinks fast/fastly.

Fast answers the question how, so it is an adverb. But fast never has -
ly attached to it.
 We performed bad/badly.
Badly describes how we performed, so -ly is added.

Rule 2. Adverbs that answer the question how sometimes cause grammatical
problems. It can be a challenge to determine if -ly should be attached. Avoid
the trap of -ly with linking verbs such as taste, smell, look, feel, which pertain
to the senses. Adverbs are often misplaced in such sentences, which require
adjectives instead.

Examples:
Roses smell sweet/sweetly.
Do the roses actively smell with noses? No; in this case, smell is a linking
verbwhich requires an adjective to modify rosesso no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily to us.

Did the woman look with her eyes, or are we describing her appearance?
We are describing her appearance (she appeared angry), so no -ly.

The woman looked angry/angrily at the paint splotches.

Here the woman actively looked (used her eyes), so the -ly is added.

She feels bad/badly about the news.

She is not feeling with fingers, so no -ly.

Rule 3. The word good is an adjective, whose adverb equivalent is well.

Examples:
You did a good job.
Good describes the job.

You did the job well.

Well answers how.
 You smell good today.
Good describes your fragrance, not how you smell with your nose, so
using the adjective is correct.

You smell well for someone with a cold.

You are actively smelling with your nose here, so use the adverb.

Rule 4. The word well can be an adjective, too. When referring to health, we
often use well rather than good.

Examples:
You do not look well today.
I don't feel well, either.

Rule 5. Adjectives come in three forms, also called degrees. An adjective in

its normal or usual form is called a positive degree adjective. There are also
the comparative and superlative degrees, which are used for comparison,
as in the following examples:

Positive Comparative Superlative

sweet sweeter sweetest

bad worse worst

efficient more efficient most efficient

A common error in using adjectives and adverbs arises from using the wrong
form of comparison. To compare two things, always use
a comparative adjective:

Example: She is the cleverer of the two women (never cleverest)

The word cleverest is what is called the superlative form of clever. Use it only
when comparing three or more things:

Example: She is the cleverest of them all.

Incorrect: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like best?

Correct: Chocolate or vanilla: which do you like better?

Rule 6. There are also three degrees of adverbs. In formal usage, do not
drop the -ly from an adverb when using the comparative form.

Incorrect: She spoke quicker than he did.

Correct: She spoke more quickly than he did.

Incorrect: Talk quieter.

Correct: Talk more quietly.

Rule 7. When this, that, these, and those are followed by a noun, they are
adjectives. When they appear without a noun following them, they are
pronouns.

Examples:
This house is for sale.
This is an adjective.

This is for sale.

This is a pronoun.