This is a word formation activity to help learners of English understand how English words are formed. In this post, words are formed by changing an adjective (bad) to an adverb (badly). As you can see from these examples, we usually add -ly to the adjectives and maybe, we also make a small change. All the adverbs in this post are modifiers, which means that they add more information to an adjective or a verb. Here are a couple of examples:
Tom drove quickly because he was late for his appointment. In this example ‘quickly’ tells us about how Tom drove and ‘drove’ is a verb.
He was a hugely talented musician. In this example ‘hugely’ is modifying ‘talented’ which is an adjective.
In this activity you will see twelve words from B2 level. Look at the words; one is an adjective and the other is an adverb. Read the examples with a blank and try to figure out which word you need for each empty space. After, flip the card to see if you were right.
terrible & terribly
She had a __ time when she lost her job.
The band played _.
She had a terrible time when she lost her job. The band played terribly.
gentle & gently
I love Frank's __ voice.
Once the cake has cooled, ___ sprinkle icing sugar on top.
I love Frank's gentle voice. Once the cake has cooled, gently sprinkle icing sugar on top.
true & truly
I promise you that it's ___!
She ___ believes that it is not her fault.
I promise you that it's true! She truly believes that it is not her fault.
incredible & incredibly
It seemed __ that they had promoted.
That new film was __ boring!
It seemed incredible that they had promoted. That new film was incredibly boring!
high & highly
The house has a __ wall surrounding it.
Tom is __ competitive. He can't stand losing.
The house has a high wall surrounding it. Tom is highly competitive. He can't stand losing.
simple & simply
Careful! Here there is a change of meaning. Simple means easy. The word simply has different meanings. It could be a synonym of just. It could mean absolutely or it could mean something like easy to understand.
The machine is very __ to use.
The views were __ wonderful.
The machine is very simple to use. The views were simply wonderful.
global & globally
The commission is calling for a __ ban on whaling
We need to start thinking __.
The commission is calling for a global ban on whaling. We need to start thinking globally.
rapid & rapidly
The patient made a __ recovery.
The patient recovered __.
The patient made a rapid recovery. The patient recovered rapidly.
strong & strongly
The dish had a __ flavour of garlic.
The dish tasted __ of garlic.
The dish had a strong flavour of garlic. The dish tasted strongly of garlic.
full & fully
Here there is a change of meaning. Fully doesn't mean that something was filled in some way. It means completely.
Thank you, but I can't eat any more. I'm really __.
She has __ recovered from her car accident.
Thank you, but I can't eat any more. I'm really full. She has fully recovered from her car accident.
hard & hardly
Careful! There is a change of meaning when we change hard (adjective) to hardly (adverb)
hardly = almost no; almost not; almost none There's hardly any milk left.
hardly ever = not very frequently I hardly ever manage to watch a film these days.
hardly = a short time ago. We had hardly sat down, when we heard a scream.
could + hardly = very difficult to do. I could hardly see anything.
Our teacher always gives us very __ assignments to do over the weekend.
Jane __ ever answers my whatsapps.
Our teacher always gives us very hard assignments to do over the weekend. Jane hardly ever answers my whatsapps.