Forming Adverbs

Most adverbs end in –ly, and adverbs that end in –ly can be formed from nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The following table shows adverbs ending in –ly formed from adjectives only.

Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
abrupt abruptly   lawful lawfully
absolute absolutely   lazy lazily
accidental accidentally   light lightly
active actively   lone lonely
actual actually   loud loudly
adamant adamantly   lucky luckily
additional additionally   mad madly
affectionate affectionately   main mainly
angry angrily   mannish mannishly
annual annually   magic magically
anxious anxiously   mental mentally
apparent apparently   merciful mercifully
appreciative appreciatively   mere merely
apprehensive apprehensively   merry merrily
appropriate appropriately   momentary momentarily
approving approvingly   monthly monthly
approximate approximately   narrow narrowly
apt aptly   natural naturally
ardent ardently   near nearly
arduous arduously   neat neatly
arguable arguably   nebulous nebulously
attentive attentively   necessary necessarily
audible audibly   needless needlessly
awkward awkwardly   nervous nervously
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
bad badly   new newly
beautiful beautifully   nice nicely
bitter bitterly   nightly nightly
boastful boastfully   noisy noisily
bold boldly   obedient obediently
brave bravely   occasional occasionally
brief briefly   open openly
bright brightly   oppressive oppressively
brutal brutally   optimistic optimistically
busy busily   oral orally
calm calmly   outward outwardly
careful carefully   painful painfully
careless carelessly   partial partially
casual casually   particular particularly
cautious cautiously   passionate passionately
certain certainly   patent patently
cheap cheaply   patient patiently
cheerful cheerfully   peaceful peacefully
clean cleanly   perfect perfectly
clear clearly   permanent permanently
clever cleverly   personal personally
close closely   pessimistic pessimistically
comfortable comfortably   physical physically
complete completely   pious piously
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
conclusive conclusively   playful playfully
conscious consciously   pleasant pleasantly
constant constantly   polite politely
continual continually   poor poorly
continuous continuously   popular popularly
copious copiously   possible possibly
correct correctly   posthumous posthumously
courteous courteously   pretty prettily
crooked crookedly   previous previously
cruel cruelly   primary primarily
cunning cunningly   private privately
curious curiously   probable probably
dangerous dangerously   problematic problematically
daring daringly   promiscuous promiscuously
dear dearly   proper properly
deep deeply   proud proudly
definite definitely   punctual punctually
deliberate deliberately   pure purely
delightful delightfully   puritanical puritanically
dim dimly   purposeless purposelessly
dirty dirtily   quick quickly
double doubly   quiet quietly
dull dully   rapid rapidly
eager eagerly   rare rarely
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
easy easily   rational rationally
economic economically   ready readily
efficient efficiently   real really
enjoyable enjoyably   recent recently
enormous enormously   regular regularly
entire entirely   ridiculous ridiculously
essential essentially   rough roughly
eternal eternally   rude rudely
ethical ethically   sad sadly
ethnic ethnically   safe safely
etymological etymologically   satisfactory satisfactorily
euphemistic euphemistically   savage savagely
evasive evasively   secret secretly
even evenly   seeming seemingly
eventual eventually   sentimental sentimentally
evident evidently   separate separately
exorbitant exorbitantly   serene serenely
extreme extremely   serial serially
faithful faithfully   serious seriously
fastidious fastidiously   severe severely
fatal fatally   shaky shakily
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
fearful fearfully   shameful shamefully
fierce fiercely   shameless shamelessly
final finally   sheepish sheepishly
financial financially   shy shyly
first firstly   significant significantly
foolish foolishly   silent silently
forgetful forgetfully   simple simply
fortunate fortunately   sincere sincerely
free freely   single-handed single-handedly
frequent frequently   skilful skillfully
friendly friendily   sleepy sleepily
frightful frightfully   slight slightly
full fully   slow slowly
general generally   soft softly
generous generously   sole solely
gentle gently   sound soundly
gentleman gentlemanly   special specially
genuine genuinely   steadfast steadfastly
glad gladly   steady steadily
graceful gracefully   stealthy stealthily
gradual gradually   strange strangely
grim grimly   strong strongly
grudging grudgingly   stupid stupidly
gruelling gruellingly   subtle subtly
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
gruesome gruesomely   successful successfully
half-yearly half-yearly   sudden suddenly
haphazard haphazardly   sure surely
happy happily   surprising surprisingly
hard hardly   sweet sweetly
harsh harshly   swift swiftly
hasty hastily   tactical tactically
hateful hatefully   tactless tactlessly
heavy heavily   terrible terribly
helpful helpfully   terrifying terrifyingly
helpless helplessly   terse tersely
high highly   thankful thankfully
holistic holistically   thorough thorougly
honest honestly   thoughtful thoughtfully
honourable honourably   thoughtless thoughtlessly
hopeful hopefully   total totally
horrible horribly   tremendous tremendously
hourly hourly   tremulous tremulously
hungry hungrily   TRUE truly
hurried hurriedly   trustful trustfully
hypothetical hypothetically   truthful truthfully
hysterical hysterically   unacceptable unacceptably
immaculate immaculately   unarguable unarguably
immediate immediately   understandable understandably
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs 
impatient impatiently   undoubted undoubtedly
individual individually   unexpected unexpectedly
inescapable inescapably   untruthful untruthfully
inestimable inestimably   unusual unusually
inevitable inevitably   urbane urbanely
inexorable inexorably   urgent urgently
infallible infallibly   useful usefully
infectious infectiously   usual usually
instant instantly   vast vastly
instantaneous instantaneously   verbal verbally
instinctive instinctively   veritable veritably
jealous jealously   weary wearily
joint jointly   weekly weekly
joyful joyfully   whole-hearted whole-heartedly
justifiable justifiably   wide widely
keen keenly   wild wildly
kind kindly   willing willingly
knowing knowingly   wise wisely
knowledgeable knowledgeably   wrong wrongly
last lastly   yearly yearly
late lately   youthful youthfully
Adjectives  Adverbs    Adjectives  Adverbs