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 following -ly words, for example, are all adjectives:

• friendly, lovely, lonely, neighbourly

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.