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1.33: Differences between Adjectives and Adverbs

  • Page ID
    182809
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    As we’ve learned, adjectives and adverbs act in similar but different roles. A lot of the time this difference can be seen in the structure of the words:

    • A clever new idea.
    • A cleverly developed idea.

    Clever is an adjective, and cleverly is an adverb. This adjective + ly construction is a short-cut to identifying adverbs.

    https://youtu.be/b4KybdSi1Fc

    While –ly is helpful, it’s not a universal rule. Not all words that end in –ly are adverbs: lovely, costly, friendly, etc. Additionally, not all adverbs end in -ly: here, there, together, yesterday, aboard, very, almost, etc.

    Some words can function both as an adjective and as and adverb:

    • Fast is an adjective in “a fast car” (where it qualifies the noun car), but an adverb in “he drove fast” (where it modifies the verb drove).
    • Likely is an adjective in “a likely outcome” (where it modifies the noun outcome), but an adverb in “we will likely go” (where it modifies the verb go).

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    • The Electric Company - LY. Authored by: NantoVision1. Located at: https://youtu.be/b4KybdSi1Fc. License: All Rights Reserved. License Terms: Standard YouTube License

    This page titled 1.33: Differences between Adjectives and Adverbs is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by SUNY/Lumen Learning via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.