Adjectives and adverbs

UNIT 92 Adjectives and adverbs (1) (quick/quickly)

A.   Study these examples:

• Our vacation was too short-the time went quickly.

• The driver of the car was seriously injured in the accident.

Quickly and seriously are adverbs. Many adverbs are made from an adjective + -ly:

adjective  bad    quiet        careful       quick       serious

adverb:  badly  quietly    carefully     quickly    seriously

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.

• Iwas disappointed that my exam results were so bad.

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)

Compare:
She speaks perfect English (adjective+noun)

She speaks English perfectly (verb+object+adverb)

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.

• Maria learns languages incredibly quickly.

• I was bitterly disappointed that I didn't get the job

• The examination was surprisingly easy

You can use an adverb before a past participle (injured/organized, etc.):

• The meeting was very badly organized.

• The driver of the car was seriously injured in the accident.

• The building was totally destroyed in the fire.