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Adjectives and Adverbs: When to use -ly

Do you wonder when to add -ly to a word? For example, should you say, “He speaks slow” or “He speaks slowly.” What about, “He speaks slower than his brother.” Is this correct? Let’s find out.

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They may come before the word they describe: “That is a cute puppy.” Adjectives may also follow the word they describe: “That puppy is cute.”

Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. If an adverb answers how and can have an -ly attached to it, place it there.

Example: She thinks slow/slowly. Slowly answers how she thinks.

Example: We performed bad/badly. Badly answers how we performed.

Example: She thinks fast/fastly. Even though fast answers how she thinks, there is no such word as fastly.

Rule: When comparing, don’t drop the —ly. Simply add more or less.

Example: Answer the questions more quickly/quicker to win the prize.

Rule: English grammar has one tricky caveat that seems like an exception to these easy rules: If the verb is one of these four senses–taste, smell, look, feel–don’t ask how. Instead, ask if the sense verb is used actively. If so, attach the -ly. If the sense verb is not used actively, which is more common, don’t attach -ly.

Example: Roses smell sweet/sweetly. Do roses actively smell with noses? No, so no -ly.

Example: The woman looked angry/angrily. Is the woman actively looking with eyes? No, only her appearance is being described.

Example: She feels bad/badly about the news. She is not feeling with fingers so no -ly.

Example: She feels bad/badly since burning her fingers. She feels with her fingers here so the adverb (-ly form) is used.

Pop Quiz

1. I feel bad/badly about telling that secret.
2. Walk slower/more slowly, please.
3. You look sad/sadly about the news.

Answers

1. bad
2. more slowly
3. sad

Posted on Sunday, October 7th, 2007, at 11:09 pm

8 Comments

8 Responses to “Adjectives and Adverbs: When to use -ly”

  1. dusan vesi says:
    June 16, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    hello, you wrote that adverbs ending with -ly, where this -ly is not a suffix but just a part of words should not be hyphenated as modifiers. should i hyphenate words like these?
    a highly-impossible solution.
    a highly-developed technology.
    highly-sensitive teeth.
    a closely-held corporation.
    a family-owned estate.
    and why is it that you can hyphenate ‘a friendly-looking man’, when ‘friendly’ is an adverb?
    thank you for your answer

    Reply
    • Jane says:
      June 17, 2011 at 12:57 pm

      I believe you are asking about Rules 4 and 5 of the “Hyphens” section.

      Rule 4 says, “Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea.”

      In the phrase friendly-looking man, “friendly-looking” is a compound-adjective describing the noun man. It is not an adverb. That is why there is a hyphen.

      Rule 5 states, “When adverbs not ending in -ly are used as compound words in front of a noun, hyphenate. When the combination of words is used after the noun, do not hyphenate.”

      Since all of the examples you gave do end in -ly, this rule does not apply to them. Only compound adjectives–adjectives that act as one idea with other adjectives–get hyphenated in front of nouns. According to the Chicago Manual of Style (7.82), “Compounds formed by an adverb ending in ly plus an adjective or participle (such as largely irrelevant or smartly dressed) are not hyphenated either before or after a noun, since ambiguity is virtually impossible.” Thus, in your examples, the correct usage would be:

      highly impossible solution
      highly developed technology
      highly sensitive teeth
      closely held corporation

      family-owned estate (family-owned is a compound adjective).

      Reply
  2. Brian Jones says:
    August 26, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Dear Grammar Book,

    I just started re-reading the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, and came up with this poem to remember “Rule 2.” from the “Adjectives and Adverbs” section:

    Roses with noses smell sweetly,
    While those with no beak just smell sweet.

    Sincerely,

    Brian Jones

    Reply
  3. nicole says:
    February 7, 2013 at 5:24 am

    how does a verb ending with -ly is used as an adjective?

    Reply
    • Jane says:
      February 10, 2013 at 6:51 pm

      A word ending in -ly is not a verb. It can be an adverb or an adjective. When used as an adjective, it modifies a noun. Here are some examples of -ly adjectives:

      Frank was lonely when he first moved to his new town.
      Patches is a very friendly dog.
      That is a lovely dress you are wearing!

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth says:
    March 2, 2013 at 5:14 pm

    Which is correct and why?

    The boat was going slow.
    The boat was going slowly.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Jane says:
      March 4, 2013 at 7:27 am

      The correct sentence is “The boat was going slowly.” The word slowly is used because you need a word that modifies the verb going. Since adverbs modify verbs, the adverb slowly is the correct choice.

      Reply

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