Adverbs of Manner | Examples & Definition
Adverbs of manner are words like “quietly,” “cleverly,” “expertly,” and “suddenly” that express how an action is performed or how something happens. You form many adverbs of manner by adding “-ly” to their corresponding adjectives (e.g., “quiet,” “clever,” “expert,” and “sudden”).
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you identify errors with adverbs of manner in your texts, such as incorrect sentence placement.
The crow cleverly dropped the pebbles into the pitcher.
It was a simple but expertly executed dish.
So we suddenly found ourselves with nowhere to stay.
Adverbs of manner meaning
Adverbs of manner answer “how” questions. They express how something happens or how something is done.
| Example sentence | How question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| Now stick it carefully onto the paper. | How should you stick it onto the paper? | Carefully |
| She neatly arranged the books on the kitchen table | How did she arrange the books? | Neatly |
| Paula did well on the test. | How did Paula do on the test? | Well |
| It’s very precisely engineered. | How is it engineered? | Precisely |
Adverbs of manner spelling
Most adverbs of manner end in “-ly” and are formed by adding “-ly” to the corresponding adjective.
- If the adjective ends in “-y,” then the “-y” becomes “-ily” in the adverb.
- If the adjective ends in “-le,” then the “-le” becomes “-ly” in the adverb.
- If the adjective ends in “-ic,” then the “-ic” becomes “-ically” in the adverb.
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| Quick | Quickly |
| Efficient | Efficiently |
| Beautiful | Beautifully |
| Exact | Exactly |
| Easy | Easily |
| Messy | Messily |
| Noisy | Noisily |
| Terrible | Terribly |
| Gentle | Gently |
| Simple | Simply |
| Dramatic | Dramatically |
| Scientific | Scientifically |
| Chaotic | Chaotically |
There are some adverbs of manner that don’t follow these spelling rules.
| Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|
| Shy | Shyly |
| Dry | Dryly (also “drily,” which is more common in UK English) |
| True | Truly |
| Due | Duly |
| Public | Publicly |
| Good | Well |
Some adverbs of manner have the same form as the corresponding adjective.
| Adjective/adverb | Adverb example in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Fast | Walk fast, and you’ll get there on time. |
| Hard | She worked hard this semester. |
| Right (when used informally as an adverb, after the verb, to mean “correctly”) | Can you check if I’m doing it right? |
| Wrong (when used informally as an adverb, after the verb, to mean “incorrectly”) | I think you’re doing it wrong. |
| Together | Let’s work together. |
- “We hardly ever go to the movies.”
- “There’s hardly any bread left.”
- “It hardly snowed at all.”
If the adjective ends in “-ly” (e.g., “friendly”), you can’t use it as an adverb, but you can say “in a … way.”
- I thought he acted in an unfriendly way.
- I thought he acted unfriendly.
- How can we present it in a more lively way?
- How can we present it more lively?
The adverbs of time “daily,” “weekly,” etc. are an exception to this (e.g., “We meet daily”).
With linking verbs, you typically use the adjective, not the adverb of manner.
- It tastes good.
- It tastes well.
- The design looks very professional.
- The design looks very professionally.
Adverbs of manner placement
You don’t typically place an adverb of manner between a verb and its object.
- Dave quickly pressed the button.
- Quickly, Dave pressed the button.
- Dave pressed the button quickly.
- Dave pressed quickly the button.
Placing the adverb of manner in “mid-position” (e.g., “Dave slowly left the room,” or “Dave had quietly left”) draws less attention to it than placing it in “end position” (e.g., “Dave left the room slowly” or “Dave had left quietly”).
If there is more than one verb in the sentence, the placement of the adverb of manner can affect the meaning, as it typically modifies the verb that it’s closest to.
| Placement at end of clause | Meaning | Placement near the main verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dave pressed the button to attach his helmet quickly. | He pressed it in order to attach the helmet quickly—“quickly” modifies “attach.” | Dave quickly pressed the button to attach his helmet. | He reacted quickly and pressed the button—“quickly” modifies “pressed.” |
| The universities agreed to find a solution together. | The solution should be found together—“together” modifies “find.” | The universities together agreed to find a solution. | The agreement was together—“together” modifies “agreed.” |
| Despite their rivalry, the two universities collaborated to complete the project efficiently. | They collaborated in order to be efficient —“efficiently” modifies “complete” | After the communication issues had been addressed, the two universities efficiently collaborated to complete the project. | The universities collaborated efficiently —“efficiently” modifies “collaborated.” |
Frequently asked questions about adverbs of manner
- Is it “going good” or “going well”?
-
“Going well” is the correct choice (e.g., “My new job’s going very well, thanks”), because you need to use the adverb “well” rather than the adjective “good” in this expression.
However, “good” is also used as an adverb in informal speech (e.g., “It’s going really good, thanks”). But this is considered incorrect in most situations, so don’t use “good” as an adverb in formal writing or speech.
The same applies for “doing good” vs. “doing well” (i.e., “He’s doing very well in his new job” is correct).
The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you ensure you’re using the correct phrasing in your writing.
- What are the different types of adverbs?
-
Adverbs can be classified in many ways. Depending on context, some adverbs fall into more than one of the categories.
Examples of adverb types include the following:
- Adverbs of manner
- Adverbs of time
- Adverbs of place
- Adverbs of purpose
- Adverbs of frequency
- Adverbs of degree
- Interrogative adverbs
- Relative adverbs
- Conjunctive adverbs
- Focusing adverbs
- Is suddenly an adverb?
-
Yes, suddenly is an adverb that describes something as “abrupt and unexpected” (e.g., “Suddenly, it got really quiet”).
“All of a sudden” is an idiom that is synonymous with the word “suddenly” (e.g., “All of a sudden, everyone cheered”).
- Is quickly an adjective or adverb?
-
Quickly is an adverb. It can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., “The girls ran quickly“). The adjective form is quick and can modify nouns (e.g., “That test was really quick!”)
In casual speech, you will sometimes hear quick used as an adverb (e.g., “Let’s go quick!”), but quickly is never used as an adjective.
Use QuillBot’s Grammar Checker to make sure you keep quick and quickly straight.
- Do all adverbs end in ly?
-
Not all adverbs end in ly.
While many adverbs end in “-ly,” especially adverbs of manner, some do not.
Adverbs that do not end in “-ly” include:
- Well
- Fast
- Straight
- Together
- Along
Some words that end in “-ly” can be used as both adjectives and adverbs, including “daily,” “weekly,” “monthly,” etc.
Some adjectives ending in “-ly” cannot be used as adverbs, including “friendly,” “silly,” and “likely.”
QuillBot’s free Grammar Checker will help you to select the correct adverb forms in your writing.
