ADVERB – FORM AND USE

Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, for example:

quick  ➜ quickly

careful ➜ carefully

easy ➜ easily

beautiful ➜ beautifully

Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives:

close, dead (informal), fast, fine, long, low, pretty (informal), short, straight, wide, wrong.

Some adverbs are formed by adding -ward/s or -wise to a noun or  preposition:

home ➜ homeward

after ➜ afterward / afterwards

price ➜ pricewise

health ➜ healthwise

Some base adverbs with different meanings

late = not on time, not early

lately = recently

The plane arrived late.

She’s been rather ill lately.

high = to a great height

highly = extremely

He lifted it high above his head.

Arsenic is highly toxic.

right = direction/correctly

rightly = correctly in my opinion

Turn right at the crossroads.

Try to do it right this time!

The tribunal rightly condemned the war criminals.

free = without paying

freely = without limitation or control

We got into the concert free.

Sheep roam freely over the hills.

deep = to a great depth/distance

deeply = thoroughly/extremely

We travelled deep into the jungle.

I am deeply ashamed of my behaviour.

direct = by the shortest route

directly = immediately

We are flying direct.

I'll tell you directly.

strange = in an unusual way

strangely = in a way that is unusual, unexpected or difficult to understand

He was acting strange, don’t you think?

She was strangely calm while everyone else was panicking.

He looked at me rather strangely.

Strangely, nobody seemed to notice.

 hard vs hardly – see the section below.

HARDLY

hardly = very little, almost not:

Sarah wasn’t very friendly at the party. She hardly spoke to me. (= she spoke to me very little)

We’ve only met once or twice. We hardly know each other. 

Compare hard and hardly:

He tried hard to find a job, but he had no luck. (= he tried a lot, with a lot of effort)

I’m not surprised he didn’t find a job. He hardly tried. (= he tried very little)

Hardly goes before the verb:

We hardly know each other. (not We know each other hardly)

I can hardly do something = it’s very difficult for me, almost impossible:

Your writing is terrible. I can hardly read it. (= it is almost impossible to read it)

My leg was hurting. I could hardly walk.

You can use hardly + any/anybody/anyone/anything/anywhere:

A: How much money do we have?

B: Hardly any. (= very little, almost none)

These two cameras are very similar. There’s hardly any difference between them.

The exam results were bad. Hardly anybody in our class passed. (= very few students passed)

She was very quiet. She said hardly anything. or She hardly said anything.

hardly ever = almost never:

I’m nearly always at home in the evenings. I hardly ever go out.

Hardly also means ‘certainly not’. For example:

It’s hardly surprising that you’re tired. You haven’t slept for three days. (= it’s certainly not surprising)

The situation is serious, but it’s hardly a crisis. (= it’s certainly not a crisis)