Say how people do things
I can say how exactly a person does something, and not confuse this with describing the person.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
4 minAn adverb of manner is made from an adjective with the ending -ly.
| adjective | adverb |
|---|---|
| slow | slowly |
| quick | quickly |
| careful | carefully |
| quiet | quietly |
| happy | happily (y → ily) |
An adjective describes a thing or a person, an adverb describes an action. They are different words:
| He is a slow driver. | what he is like |
| He drives slowly. | how he does it |
Four words do not follow the rule:
| good → well | He speaks English well. |
| fast → fast | She works fast. |
| hard → hard | They work hard. |
| late → late | I came late. |
Where the adverb goes: after the verb, and if there is an object — after the object. ✓ He speaks English well, not He speaks well English — the ban from A1 #7.
Common learner errors
written for your languagegood instead of well
✗ He speaks English good
✓ He speaks English well
German gut, Dutch goed and Swedish bra mean both "good" and "well". English has two words: good goes with a noun, well with a verb.
The adverb between the verb and the object
✗ He speaks well English
✓ He speaks English well
French il parle bien anglais, Spanish habla bien inglés, Italian parla bene inglese and German er spricht gut Englisch put it straight after the verb, and learners keep this order at every level.
An adjective instead of an adverb
✗ Drive slow (in writing) → ✓ Drive slowly. In German and Dutch the adverb is the same word as the adjective (langsam, langzaam), so the -ly gets lost. You will hear slow in conversation and see it on road signs, but in your own English keep the -ly.
hardly instead of hard
✗ She works very hardly
✓ She works very hard
hardly is a different word: it means "almost not".
Pronunciation
3 minThe ending -ly is unstressed and does not move the stress of the word: carefully, quickly, happily. The stress stays where it is in the adjective.
hard /hɑːd/ and well /wel/ are adverbs without -ly, one syllable each; at the end of a sentence the main stress falls on them: He works hard, She speaks English well.
Text
3 minMy colleague works very fast, but he doesn't always work carefully. He speaks English well and he speaks it quickly — sometimes too quickly for me. Yesterday he came late and left early. I work slowly, but I check everything twice.
Exercises
8–10 min1. Make the adverb.
- slow →
- careful →
- quick →
- happy →
- good →
- fast →
Show the answers
2. Multiple choice.
- He is a driver. (slow / slowly)
- He drives . (slow / slowly)
- She speaks English . (good / well)
- It was a film. (good / well)
Show the answers
3. Error correction.
- He speaks English good.
- He speaks well English.
- She works very hardly. (hardly means "almost not")
Show the answers
4. Word order.
Tap the words in order.Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- adverbs with -ly
- four exceptions
- the difference between an adjective and an adverb
- where the adverb goes
Next — lesson 16: travelling.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
optional
Vocabulary for your deck
12 words- slowly /ˈsləʊli/ not fast
- quickly /ˈkwɪkli/ fast; in a short time
- carefully /ˈkeəfəli/ with care, so that nothing goes wrong
- quietly /ˈkwaɪətli/ without much noise
- well /wel/ in a good way
- fast /fɑːst/ quickly; quick
- hard /hɑːd/ with a lot of effort; difficult
- loudly /ˈlaʊdli/ with a lot of noise; not quietly
- check /tʃek/ to look again to see that something is right
- badly /ˈbædli/ not well
- politely /pəˈlaɪtli/ in a kind way, with good manners
- drive /draɪv/ to make a car go and control it
Writing
Four sentences about how someone you know works or speaks.
Example
My colleague works very fast, but not always carefully. He speaks English well. Yesterday he came late. I work slowly, but I check everything twice.
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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⚑ optional