When to Add “ly” at the End of a Word
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.
When comparing, don’t drop the —ly. Simply add more or less in front of the adverb.
Example: Answer the questions more quickly/quicker to win the prize.
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.
In this sentence, she is feeling with fingers so the word is being used actively; therefore, add the -ly.
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 Tuesday, March 27th, 2007, at 6:49 pm
13 Responses to “When to Add “ly” at the End of a Word”
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why the answer is bad in this sentens i feel bad/badly about telling that secret please tell me
In this case, the sense verb (feel) is not used actively. Since I am not actually feeling with my fingers, do not attach -ly.
What is a good rule with more than one adjective, like below? There are 155 of them and they are gallon size.
You brought in 155 gallon foliage plants.
On my website, Rule 4 of Hyphens Between Words states, “Generally, hyphenate between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun and act as a single idea.” The way your sentence is written, it leads the reader to believe the plants are 155-gallon size. I would recommend writing, “You brought in 155 one-gallon foliage plants,” to avoid confusion.
i got it it is very good website plz show us some more topics
Thank you for the compliment. We are adding more topics all the time.
Hey..I hv some confuse..
do u mean that only that thing happen on us and we can really feel it just adding -ly bhind the word?..
Example
she feels badly since burning her finger…(experience)
And she feel bad about the news(doesn’t experience on the girl)
Our Rule 2 of Adjectives and Adverbs states, “A special -ly rule applies when four of the senses – taste, smell, look, feel – are the verbs . . . [A]sk if the sense verb is being used actively [in this case really feeling or experiencing it]. If so, use the -ly.
Therefore, “She feels badly since burning her finger” is correct. However, to make sure you are being clearly understood, you could reword your sentence to “Her sense of touch is poor since burning her finger.”
I’m going crazy listening to people nowadays who don’t use ly at the end of words. Even well known people, such as, news correspondents, etc. fail to use it. I’m sure they must still teach proper English usage in school these days, do they not?
As far as I know, teachers are still teaching proper English in the schools. It is possible that the informal language used in text messaging and other forms of modern communication are creeping into and having a deleterious effect on formal communication.
I recently was corrected for this sentence.
“The sheets came out perfect.” I was told to use perfectly instead. Is that correct?
Yes, the word perfectly is an adverb which describes how the sheets came out.