What is an adverb of manner?

An adverb of manner describes how an action is done and usually answers the question how: She spoke softly. He drove carefully. They worked hard. Most are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, and they normally come after the verb or after the verb's object.

How do you form adverbs of manner from adjectives?

Add -ly to the adjective: quick becomes quickly. Change a final consonant plus -y to -ily (happy, happily), drop the e in -le adjectives and add -y (gentle, gently), and add -ally to adjectives ending in -ic (basic, basically). A few adverbs are irregular or unchanged: good becomes well, and fast, hard, late, and early stay as they are.

Where do adverbs of manner go in a sentence?

The default position is the end of the clause, after the verb and its object: She read the letter slowly. Never put one between the verb and the object: She read slowly the letter is wrong. In writing, an adverb of manner can move to the front with a comma (Slowly, she read the letter) or between the subject and the verb (She slowly read the letter) for emphasis.

Is it I feel bad or I feel badly?

I feel bad. Feel here is a linking verb, like be or seem, so the word after it describes you and must be an adjective, and the same applies to look, sound, smell, and taste: She looks tired, it smells delicious. Feel badly would only be correct if you were describing a poor sense of touch.

Why is there no adverb friendlily?

Friendly, lovely, lonely, silly, and lively are adjectives that happen to end in -ly, and English does not add a second -ly to them. To express the manner, use a phrase: She greeted us in a friendly way. The same goes for other -ly adjectives such as elderly and likely.

English grammar · Beginner

Adverb of Manner: How to Form, Place, and Use -ly Adverbs

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

An adverb of manner tells you how an action is done: slowly, carefully, well, fast. Most are made by adding -ly to an adjective (quiet, quietly), a few keep the same form as the adjective (hard, fast, late), and well is the adverb of good. They normally follow the verb or its object, never come between the verb and its object, and after linking verbs like feel and look English uses an adjective instead.

She answered the question carefully.

carefully tells you how she answered, and follows the object

What it is

An adverb of manner answers the question how. She spoke. How? Quietly, confidently, well. It adds the way an action was performed, and English builds most of them from adjectives with the ending -ly, so once you know the adjective you usually know the adverb. The system has two complications: a handful of common adverbs do not take -ly (fast, hard, late, well), and after verbs like feel, look, and seem English uses an adjective, not an adverb, because those verbs describe the subject rather than an action.

He drives carefully. (carefully describes the driving) He is a careful driver. (careful describes him) She looked happy. (happy describes her, so no -ly)

How to spot it

Find the verb and ask how. If a word answers with the way the action was done, it is an adverb of manner. Most end in -ly, but check the small group that don't (fast, hard, late, early, well). If the word follows be, seem, look, feel, sound, taste, or smell and describes the subject, it should be an adjective.

The children played happily in the garden. (how they played: happily)
He works hard and runs fast. (same form as the adjectives hard and fast)
She speaks English well. (well is the adverb of good)
The soup tastes good. (tastes is a linking verb, so the adjective good, not well)

Friendly, lovely, lonely, silly, and lively end in -ly but are adjectives. There is no adverb friendlily; say in a friendly way instead.

Adverbs of Manner Quick Reference

Forming adverbs of manner from adjectives

Adjective ending	Rule	Examples
Most adjectives	add -ly	quick → quickly, careful → carefully, quiet → quietly
Consonant + y	change y to i, add -ly	happy → happily, easy → easily, angry → angrily
-le	drop the e, add -y	gentle → gently, simple → simply, terrible → terribly
-ic	add -ally	basic → basically, dramatic → dramatically (but public → publicly)
-ll	add only -y	full → fully, dull → dully
-ue	drop the e, add -ly	true → truly, due → duly
Irregular or unchanged	learn the form	good → well, fast → fast, hard → hard, late → late, early → early

Common Adverbs of Manner Examples in English

Adverbs of manner grouped by what they describe, with the position marked in each note:

How Someone Speaks or Acts

She explained the rules patiently.: after the object: explained the rules, then patiently
He answered honestly.: straight after the verb when there is no object
They welcomed us warmly.: after the object us
Please speak more slowly.: more + adverb for a comparative

After a verb with an object, the adverb goes after the object, not between the verb and the object.

How Something Moves or Happens

The train moved slowly out of the station.: after the verb, before the place phrase
He ran fast to catch the bus.: fast: same form as the adjective
She climbed the stairs quietly.: after the object the stairs
The door opened suddenly.: suddenly at the end of a short clause

Fast has no -ly form. Fastly does not exist.

How Well Something Is Done

She plays the piano beautifully.: the quality of the playing
He did well in the exam.: well is the adverb of good
The team played badly in the first half.: badly is the regular adverb of bad
You handled that situation brilliantly.: adverb after the object

Good is an adjective and well is its adverb: a good singer sings well.

Front and Mid Position for Emphasis

Slowly, the fog began to lift.: front position with a comma sets the scene
Carefully, she lifted the lid.: the manner is stressed before the action
He gently closed the door.: mid-position, between subject and verb, common in writing

Front and mid positions belong mainly to writing and storytelling; in speech the end position is the default.

How Adverbs of Manner Work

Five rules cover the form, the position, the one place where an adjective wins, and the odd behaviour of well.

Adjective Plus -ly, with Spelling Adjustments

The base rule is add -ly. Adjectives ending in a consonant plus -y change the y to i (happy, happily), though one-syllable shy keeps it (shyly). Adjectives ending in -le drop the e and add -y (gentle, gently). Adjectives ending in -ic add -ally (basic, basically), with public, publicly as the one common exception. Adjectives ending in -ll add only -y (full, fully).

She smiled happily, spoke gently, and basically agreed.

y to i, -le to -ly, -ic to -ically

-ly, but check the -y, -le, -ic, and -ll endings.

After the Verb or After the Object, Never Between

The normal place for an adverb of manner is the end of the clause: after an intransitive verb (she sang beautifully) or after the object of a transitive verb (she sang the song beautifully). English does not allow the adverb between the verb and its object, which is the natural spot in many other languages, so she sang beautifully the song is wrong.

He speaks French fluently and writes it accurately.

adverb after the object each time, never between speaks and French

Verb, object, then adverb.

Mid-Position for Emphasis or Style

In writing, an adverb of manner can come before the main verb (she quietly closed the door) or at the front of the sentence with a comma (Quietly, she closed the door). Both draw attention to the manner. With a passive or a verb phrase containing an auxiliary, the adverb usually goes between the auxiliary and the participle: the plan was carefully checked.

The letter was carefully worded. Slowly, the crowd dispersed.

between auxiliary and participle; front position with a comma

Front or mid for emphasis; end for neutral.

Linking Verbs Take an Adjective

Be, seem, look, feel, sound, smell, taste, become, and get connect the subject to a description rather than reporting an action, so the word after them describes the subject and is an adjective. I feel bad is correct; I feel badly would mean my sense of touch is faulty. She looks tired, not tiredly; it sounds good, not well.

The cake smells wonderful. She sounded worried.

adjective after a linking verb, because it describes the cake and her

After feel, look, seem, sound, smell, taste: adjective.

Well Is the Odd One Out

Good is an adjective and its adverb is well: a good driver drives well. Well is also an adjective meaning healthy (I'm well, thanks), which is why I feel well is correct but means I feel healthy, while I feel good means I am in a good mood. In casual American speech I'm good is a normal answer to How are you? and is not an error.

She sings well. She's a good singer. Are you well?

adverb, adjective, and adjective meaning healthy

Good describes, well performs.

Common Mistakes with Adverbs of Manner

Incorrect: She speaks very well English.

Correct: She speaks English very well.

An adverb of manner cannot sit between a verb and its object. English keeps verb and object together and puts the adverb after them. This order is natural in many other languages, which is why the error is so common.

Incorrect: He drives very fastly.

Correct: He drives very fast.

Fast is one of a small group of adverbs that keep the same form as the adjective. Fastly is not an English word. The same is true of hard, late, early, and straight.

Incorrect: I feel badly about what happened.

Correct: I feel bad about what happened.

Feel is a linking verb here: it describes my state, not an action, so it takes an adjective. Feel badly is an overcorrection by people who have learned that verbs take adverbs, but it would literally mean that my sense of touch is poor.

Incorrect: She did the exam very good.

Correct: She did the exam very well.

Good is an adjective, and the word describing how she did the exam has to be an adverb. Well is the adverb of good. This mistake is common in informal speech but is marked as an error in writing and exams.

Same-Form Adverbs and the Hard / Hardly Trap

A small set of adverbs of manner look exactly like their adjectives, and two of them have a separate -ly word with a different meaning.

Adverbs with no -ly

Fast, hard, late, early, straight, high, and low are the same in both roles. Adding -ly either produces a non-word (fastly) or changes the meaning (hardly, lately, highly).

She drives fast.: fast as an adverb
They worked hard on the project.: hard as an adverb
He arrived late and left early.: late and early as adverbs

Slow appears as an adverb on road signs (Go slow), but slowly is the standard form in writing. Wrong works informally after a verb (You did it wrong), while wrongly is the formal choice (wrongly accused).

Hard vs. hardly, late vs. lately

Hardly means almost not, and lately means recently. Neither is the adverb of manner of its adjective.

I hardly slept last night.: I almost didn't sleep
I worked hard last night.: with a lot of effort
Have you seen her lately?: recently, not late

Hardly goes before the main verb (I can hardly hear you) and makes the sentence negative, so it never combines with not.

Quick Check: Adverbs of Manner

Fill each gap with the adverb of manner formed from the word in brackets, or with the adjective if the sentence needs one.

1. He closed the door ___ (quiet) so as not to wake the baby.

Answer: quietly

how he closed it: -ly adverb

2. She smiled ___ (happy) when she saw the result.

Answer: happily

y changes to i before -ly

3. The instructions were ___ (simple) written and easy to follow.

Answer: simply

-le becomes -ly

4. You'll have to run ___ (fast) than that to catch him.

Answer: faster

fast has no -ly form; the comparative adverb is faster

5. This soup tastes ___ (wonderful).

Answer: wonderful

tastes is a linking verb, so the adjective stays

6. He plays chess really ___ (good).

Answer: well

the adverb of good is well

Adverbs of Manner FAQs

What is an adverb of manner?: An adverb of manner describes how an action is done and usually answers the question how: She spoke softly. He drove carefully. They worked hard. Most are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, and they normally come after the verb or after the verb's object.
How do you form adverbs of manner from adjectives?: Add -ly to the adjective: quick becomes quickly. Change a final consonant plus -y to -ily (happy, happily), drop the e in -le adjectives and add -y (gentle, gently), and add -ally to adjectives ending in -ic (basic, basically). A few adverbs are irregular or unchanged: good becomes well, and fast, hard, late, and early stay as they are.
Where do adverbs of manner go in a sentence?: The default position is the end of the clause, after the verb and its object: She read the letter slowly. Never put one between the verb and the object: She read slowly the letter is wrong. In writing, an adverb of manner can move to the front with a comma (Slowly, she read the letter) or between the subject and the verb (She slowly read the letter) for emphasis.
Is it I feel bad or I feel badly?: I feel bad. Feel here is a linking verb, like be or seem, so the word after it describes you and must be an adjective, and the same applies to look, sound, smell, and taste: She looks tired, it smells delicious. Feel badly would only be correct if you were describing a poor sense of touch.
Why is there no adverb friendlily?: Friendly, lovely, lonely, silly, and lively are adjectives that happen to end in -ly, and English does not add a second -ly to them. To express the manner, use a phrase: She greeted us in a friendly way. The same goes for other -ly adjectives such as elderly and likely.