Does “-ly” Always Mean an Adverb?

Margie Wakeman WellsGeneral Leave a Comment

I had a question in my grammar class last night that I want to address.

It is true that very often a word that ends in -ly is an adverb. We actually add the -ly to the adjective form of many words to form the adverb.

…firm, firmly
…smooth, smoothly
…quick, quickly

So, yes, many -ly words are adverbs. However, there are well over a hundred words that end in -ly that are adjectives. So not every -ly word is an adverb.

…friendly crowd
…lovely day
…likely story

And, of course, there are many adverbs that do not end in -ly.

never at home
always talking…not happy

Just a little grammar for fun today.

Happy punctuating!

Margie

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