Adjectives and Adverbs

Compared and Contrasted

 Adjectives as adverbs without change of form

There are several adjectives that can be used, without change of form,
as adverbs. Some of them are:
There is an early train to Liverpool. (adjective)
I will leave very early tomorrow. (adverb)
She turned the wrong way. (adjective)
She turned wrong. (adverb)
He spoke in a low voice. (adjective)
He spoke low but clearly. (adverb)
Take a clean sheet of paper. (adjective)
The prisoner got clean away. (adverb)
 Adjectives + -ly
There is a small group of adjectives formed by adding “ly” to nouns to denote a
period of time. Such is the case of “hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc.”
These words can also be used as adverbs.
There is an hourly service of bus to Liverpool. (Adjective)
The buses to Liverpool run hourly. (Adverb)
This is a weekly magazine. (Adjective)
This magazine is published weekly. (Adverb)
He has a very active daily routine. (Adjective)
She visits us daily. (Adverb)
Adjectives ending in “ly” such as “cowardly, fatherly, lively, friendly, orderly,
womanly, likely, silly, lovely, ugly, costly, lonely” can be used in an adverbial
phrase through the expression “in a … way / manner / fashion / mode”.
He is a cowardly person. (Adjective)
He behaved in a cowardly way (Adverbial phrase)
She is a friendly woman. (Adjective)
She spoke to me in a friendly manner. (Adverbial phrase)
Susan is an extremely orderly woman. (Adjective)
People are not used to crossing the road in an orderly mode. (Adverbial phrase)
 Adverbs with two forms and differences in meaning

There are some words such as “hard, near, high, late, free, easy, last, short,
wrong” that have two forms and differences in meaning.
hard / hardly
She works hard. (with great force or effort; diligently; carefully)
She hardly works (scarcely; almost not)
near / nearly
The time is drawing near for my visit to France. (close; within a short distance)
It’s nearly two o’clock. (almost)
late / lately
She came back very late. (not early)
What have you been doing lately? (recently)
There are some adverbs, such as cheap, clean and loud, that can be found
with –ly ending without a difference in meaning, but then they are more
formal.
I bought it cheap.
I bought it cheaply.
I can see it quite clear.
I can see it quite clearly.
You are speaking too loud.
You are speaking too loudly.