What are adverbs? Adverbs are words that give more information about:
1. A verb, for example to do, to go, to eat, etc.
2. An adjective, for example good, bad, nice, etc.
3. Another adverb, for example quickly, extremely, nicely, etc.
In English, adverbs usually end with -ly.
For example:
Quick, quickly. I am quick, but I walk quickly.
Nice, nicely. I am nice, but I speak nicely.
Most student recognise adverbs from the ending -ly.
But there are irregular adverbs that do not use the ending -ly. I am sure you know one already:
GOOD, WELL (not goodly)
Children are good, but they behave well.
But there are more:
1. Fast, fast (not fastly)
I am fast, but I walk fast (not fastly). I am quick, but I walk quickly.
2. Hard, hard (not hardly)
My work is hard and I work hard.
Hardly is a negative. For example, I hardly work = I don’t work
So, be careful. If you say you work hard, you are saying that you work a lot. But if you say that you hardly work, you are saying that you are not working. Your boss will not like it. A small difference can have a big impact!
3. Seldom (rarely, not often)
Seldomly does not exist. If you want to say that you rarely go to the cinema, you can say that you seldom go to the cinema, not seldomly.
So, when people tell you that English adverbs always end with -ly, be careful. Most of them do, but there are exceptions which you need to know. You don’t want to tell your boss that you hardly work or tell your parents that you hardly study. They might get angry with you!
