But in the 18th century, grammar mavens began to disparage them, insisting on the -ly form, and for certain adverbs, that is now the norm. ) Similar flat adverbs, like sudden, extreme, and wondrous, were standard in early Modern English. Perhaps in response, there has been a resurgence of common adjectives used adverbially (You played amazing. And some are both adjectival and adverbial without changing form ( fast trains, run fast early morning, wake up early ). Still others shift meaning as they change form (She arrived late. To add to the ambiguity, a small number of words can function as adverbs with or without the classic ending (walk slow on the ice / speak more slowly hold me close / a closely knit family).

But some adjectives end in -ly ( cowardly lion, motherly affection, friendly persuasion), while some adverbs, called “flat” adverbs, do not (sit up straight, work hard, aim high ). We think of adverbs as typically ending in -ly ( badly, quickly, completely ), unlike their adjective counterparts ( bad, quick, complete ).

The source of bewilderment, then, may not be function but form. Simply put, adverbs modify everything that adjectives don’t-including whole sentences! They are a grammatical wastebasket-the part of speech into which you toss anything you can’t otherwise categorize. Adjectives provide answers to “what kind,” “which one,” and “how many,” while adverbs answer “how,” “when,” and “where” (to boldly go, see you later, happening here ).

Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns ( tight shoes, She is brilliant! ), while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs (drive carefully, rather hasty, more rapidly). For some, distinguishing adjectives from adverbs is impossibly confusing.

What does an adverb describe