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Adverbs of Manner
What are adverbs?
Adverbs can do many things in a sentence.
They can describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire sentences.
Adverbs of manner tell us how
someone or something performs an action.
For example: I walk quickly.
He speaks intelligently.
My dog barks loudly.
How are adverbs of manner formed in English?
Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding -ly to the adjective.
For example, the adjective "soft" becomes the adverb "softly."
The adjective "careful" becomes the adverb "carefully."
The adjective "noisy" becomes the adverb "noisily."
When we add -ly to an adjective that ends in -y, the -y changes to -i.
There are a few exceptions to the -ly adverb rule.
Some adverbs of manner don't end in -ly.
For example, the adjective "good" becomes the adverb "well."
A few adjectives and adverbs even have
the same form, including "fast," "hard," and "late."
There are four common sentence patterns
for adverbs of manner in English.
The first pattern is "verb plus adverb."
For example, in the sentence "The ballerina dances beautifully,"
the adverb "beautifully" follows the verb "dances."
"Beautifully" describes how the ballerina dances.
The second pattern is "subject, verb, object plus adverb."
For example, in the sentence "The children finished their homework quietly,"
the adverb "quietly" comes after the object "homework."
"Quietly" describes how the children finished their homework.
The third pattern is "adverb plus verb."
For example, in the sentence "He gently pets the kitten,"
the adverb "gently" comes before the verb "pets."
"Gently" describes how he pets the kitten.
The fourth pattern is "verb plus adverb plus verb."
When a verb has two or more parts,
the adverb often follows the first part of the verb.
For example, in the sentence "They are patiently waiting for the bus,"
the adverb "patiently" comes between "are" and "waiting."
"Patiently" describes how they are waiting for the bus.
Let's look at some more examples
of adverbs of manner in a sentence.
They studied hard for the test.
He didn't sing the song well.
The teacher calmly spoke to the students.
The girl is noisily chewing her food.
My friend plays the piano badly.
Look at the adjective. Say or write the adverb.
For example: dangerous, dangerously
Now you try!
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About this lesson
Learn how adverbs of manner describe how an action is done within the topic of adverbs.