Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. Form Based on adjectives: Adj + ly Notes: We often use adjectives for verb to be ex: She runs very slow. (incorrect) She runs very slowly. (correct) Her speed is very slow. (correct) She runs slow. (incorrect) She runs slowly. (correct) Rules 1. They are usually placed after the main verb or after the object. (S+V+O+AM) Examples: He swims well, (after the main verb) He ran... rapidly, slowly, quickly.. She spoke... softly, loudly, aggressively.. James coughed loudly to attract her attention. He plays the flute beautifully. (after the object) He ate the chocolate cake greedily. BE CAREFUL! The adverb should not be put between the verb and the object: Examples: He ate greedily the chocolate cake [incorrect] He ate the chocolate cake greedily [correct] 2. If there is a preposition before the object, e.g. at, towards, we can place the adverb either before the preposition or after the object. (S+V+AM+PRE+O) Examples The child ran happily towards his mother. The child ran towards his mother happily. 3. Sometimes an adverb of manner is placed before a verb + object to add emphasis (S+AM+V+O): Examples He gently woke the sleeping woman. 4. Some writers put an adverb of manner at the beginning of the sentence to catch our attention and make us curious (AM+S+V+O): Examples Slowly she picked up the knife. (We want to know what happened slowly, who did it slowly, why they did it slowly)

5. However, adverbs should always come AFTER intransitive verbs (=verbs which have no object). (S+V+AM) Examples The town grew quickly He waited patiently Also, these common adverbs are almost always placed AFTER the verb: well badly hard fast 6. The position of the adverb is important when there is more than one verb in a sentence. If the adverb is placed after a clause, then it modifies the whole action described by the clause. (S+AM+MAINV+V+O or S+MAINV+V+O+AM) Notice the difference in meaning between the following pairs of sentences: She quickly agreed to re-type the letter (= her agreement was quick) She agreed to re-type the letter quickly (= the re-typing was quick) He quietly asked me to leave the house (= his request was quiet) He asked me to leave the house quietly (= the leaving was quiet) Exercise 1

1. The group found their hotel ____________ after they bought the map of the city. (easy/easily) 2. The girls had to finish their work ____________ because the teacher told them to stop. (quick/quickly) 3. When they heard the bad news, they were very ____________. (sad/sadly) 4. Do you think you speak English ____________? Yes, of course! (good/well) 5. Megan is a very ____________ athlete. She loves sports. (serious/seriously) 6. I want my children to behave ____________ to every person that they meet. (nice/nicely) 7. When he was a child, Tony spoke very ____________ and his friends couldn't understand him. (quiet/quietly)

Exercise 2
1. I think I am a good singer and I like to sing. When people say that I sing well, it makes

me happy. 2. We asked our teacher to speak more loudly because she always spoke too quietly and we couldn't hear her at all. 3. It's very important to work hard when studying another language. Don't give up! 4. The robber silently lifted the window so nobody could hear him as he entered the house. 5. Sara successfully completed her Master's Degree in Business. Isn't that great? 6. A: Did her airplane arrive late last night? B: Yes, it did. It arrived much later than she expected. 7. It was raining so heavily this morning that we cancelled the picnic. 8. A: How do you think you did on the test today? B: Oh, terrible! I think I did quite badly. I didn't study and I don't really understand the grammar. 9. Darren is a slow eater. He eats so slowly that he's always the last one at the dinner table. 10. The dog was seriously injured in the accident, but it recovered and is healthy now.