Adverbs
Adverbs of manner describe how something happens or how someone does something. They describe the manner in which a verb happens.
Examples:
He drives carefully.
She speaks English well.
In the first example above, the adverb "carefully" shows the way he drives. In the second example, the adverb "well" describes the manner in which she speaks English. Most adverbs of manner often come after the verb (or verb phrase).
In most cases, we add "-ly" to an adjective to form an adverb.
Examples:
slow + ly
slowly
happy + lyhappily
Some adverbs do not follow this pattern. They are irregular.
Examples:
goodwell
hardhard
fastfast
Words like "very", "really", and "incredibly" are modifying adverbs. They are used before an adjective or another adverb to show the degree or intensity of that adjective or adverb.
Examples:
They were very friendly.
He was driving incredibly fast.
In the first example above, "very" is describing the degree of the adjective "friendly". In the second example, "incredibly" is describing the intensity of the adverb "fast"
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Exercises
Choose the correct word printed in italics.
1She plays the guitar beautiful / beautifully.
She plays the guitar beautifully.
2My brother is a careful / carefully driver.
My brother is a careful driver.
3He always speaks polite / politely to everyone.
He always speaks politely to everyone.
4My friend can run very fast / fastly.
My friend can run very fast.
5The landscape was incredible / incredibly beautiful.
The landscape was incredibly beautiful.
6She wears casual / casually clothes everywhere.
She wears casual clothes everywhere.
7He finished the test slow / slowly but got all the answers right.
He finished the test slow / slowly but got all the answers right.