A. Look at these examples: * Our holiday was too short - the time went very quickly. * The driver of the car was seriously injured in the accident. Quickly and seriously are adverbs. Many adverbs are made from an adjective + -1y: adjective: quick serious careful quiet heavy bad adverb: quickly seriously carefully quietly heavily badly
Not all words ending in - ly are adverbs. Some adjectives end in -ly too, for example: friendly lively elderly lonely silly lovely B. Adjective or Adverb? #1 Adjectives (quick/careful etc.) tell us about a noun. We use adjectives before nouns and after some verbs, especially be: * Tom is a careful driver. (not 'a carefully driver') * We didn't go out because of the heavy rain. * Please be quiet. * I was disappointed that my exam results were so bad. We also use adjectives after the verbs look/feel/sound etc.Why do you always look so serious? #2 Adverbs (quickly/carefully etc.) tell us about a verb. An adverb tells us how somebody does something or how something happens: * Tom drove carefully along the narrow road. (not 'drove careful') * We didn't go out because it was raining heavily. (not 'raining heavy') * Please speak quietly. (not 'speak quiet') * I was disappointed that I did so badly in the exam. (not 'did so bad') Why do you never take me seriously?
Compare: * She speaks perfect English.(adjective + noun) * She speaks English perfectly.(verb + object + adverb) Compare these sentences with look: * Tom looked sad when I saw him. (= he seemed sad, his expression was sad) * Tom looked at me sadly. (= he looked at me in a sad way) C. We also use adverbs before adjectives and other adverbs. For example: reasonably cheap (adverb + adjective) terribly sorry (adverb + adjective) incredibly quickly (adverb + adverb) * It's a reasonably cheap restaurant and the food is extremely good. * Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to push you. (not 'terrible sorry') * Maria learns languages incredibly quickly. * The examination was surprisingly easy. You can also use an adverb before a past participle (injured/organized/written etc.) * Two people were seriously injured in the accident. (not 'serious injured') * The meeting was very badly organized.
Complete the sentences with adverbs. The first letter(s) of each adverb are given.
1. We didn't go out because it was raining _heavily._ 2. Our team lost the game because we played very ba---. 3. I had little difficulty finding a place to live. I found a flat quite ea---. 4. We had to wait for a long time but we didn't complain. We waited pa---. 5. Nobody knew George was coming to see us. He arrived unex---. 6. Mike keeps fit by playing tennis reg---.
Put in the right word.
1. The driver of the car was _seriously_ injured. (serious/seriously) 2. The driver of the car had serious_ injuries. (serious/seriously) 3. I think you behaved very ---. (selfish/selfishly) 4. Rose is --- I upset about losing her job. (terrible/terribly) 5. There was a --- change in the weather. (sudden/suddenly) 6. Everybody at the party was --- dressed. (colourful/colourfully) 7. Linda likes wearing --- clothes. (colourful/colourfully) 8. She fell and hurt herself quite ---.(bad/badly) 9. He says he didn't do well at school because he was --- taught. (bad/badly) 10. Don't go up that ladder. It doesn't look ---. (safe/safely) 11. He looked at me --- when I interrupted him. (angry/angrily)
Complete each sentence using a word from the list. Sometimes you need the adjective (careful etc.) and sometimes the adverb (carefully etc.). careful(ly) complete(ly) continuous(ly) financial(ly) fluent(ly) happy/happily nervous(ly) perfect(ly) quick(ly) special(1y)
1. Our holiday was too short. The time passed very _quickly._ 2. Tom doesn't take risks when he's driving. He's always ---. 3. Sue works --- She never seems to stop. 4. Alice and Stan are very --- married. 5. Monica's English is very --- although she makes quite a lot of mistakes. 6. I cooked this meal --- for you, so I hope you like it. 7. Everything was very quiet. There was --- silence. 8. I tried on the shoes and they fitted me ---. 9. Do you usually feel --- before examinations? 10. I'd like to buy a car but it's --- impossible for me at the moment.
Choose two words (one from each box) to complete each sentence.
1. I thought the restaurant would be expensive but it was _reasonably cheap._ 2. George's mother is --- in hospital. 3. What a big house! It's ---. 4. It wasn't a serious accident. The car was only ---. 5. The children are normally very lively but they're --- today. 6, When I returned home after 20 years, everything had ---. 7. The film was --- It could have been much shorter. 8. A lot went wrong during our holiday because it was ---.
Laura: Who is the best on the basketball team? Paul: Well, James is the best. Laura: Really? I think Mike is better than James. Paul: Why do you think so? Laura: Because he is the fastest on the team. Paul: But James is the tallest. Laura: You know, Mike got the most points in the game. Paul: That뭩 true. But all the players did their best. Laura: Our team won the last game anyway.
