Unit 92. Adjectives and adverbs (1) (quick/quickly)

For spelling rules see Appendix 3. For hard/fast/well see Unit 93.

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?

An adjective tells us more about a noun. We use adjectives before nouns and after a few verbs (especially be):

Tom is a careful driver.

Be quiet, please!

We didn’t go out because of the heavy rain.

I was disappointed that my exam results were so bad.
For adjectives after look/smell/feel, etc., see Unit 91c.

An adverb tells us more about a verb. An adverb tells us in what way someone does something or in what way something happens:

Tom drove carefully along the narrow road, (not drove careful)

Speak quietly, please! (not speak quiet)

We didn’t go out because it was raining heavily, (not raining heavy)

I was disappointed that I did so badly on the exam, (not did so bad)