Another grammar question.....?

Question

I know, I´m a pain in the neck :) But this is a really easy one (I hope so): When do u use the ending "ly".... for example: "I speak fluent german" or "fluently" ?.....I reckon it´s "fluent" cause "fluently" sounds stupid in that case...another example: "carefully" and "careful"...I just don´t understand the difference...!?When I speak english I always forget to use this ending and I´m sure I´m often wrong,,,

Answer 1

I know this is really tricky for German speakers. In your example, "fluent" is an adjective, which describes the kind of German you speak. "Fluently" is an adverb, which indicates how you speak German. It's called an adverb because it's attached to the verb ("speak" in this case).

The way to remember is to ask whether the question answered by your word is "What kind?" (then it's an adjective) or "How?" (then it's an adverb, with -ly).

More examples:

My wife is a beautiful woman. (What kind of woman?) - adjective
She sings beautifully. (How does she sing?) - adverb

It's really cold today. (What kind of weather is it today?) - adjective
That teacher doesn't like me and he always speaks to me coldly. (How does he speak?) - adverb

What a nice house! (What kind of house?) - adjective
How nicely she dances! (How does she dance?) - adverb

So if the word describes a thing or a person, it's an adjective with no -ly on the end.
If it describes an action, it's an adverb and has -ly on the end.

NOTE: an extra rule: an adverb doesn't only go with verbs, it can also go in front of an adjective, like this:
"unbelievably hot weather"
"terribly expensive shoes"
"really useful suggestions"
- in this case it still answers the question "how?", as "how hot, "how expensive?", "how useful" and so on.

So in German:
teuer - expensive
Wie teuer? - How expensive?
Unglaublich teuer. - Unbelievably expensive. (adverb followed by adjective)

Courage! It will come in the end if you keep practising.

Answer 2

Words ending in ly are adverbs. They desribe action. So 'you speak fluent Ferman' because the word describes the noun German and is hence an adjective. However, 'you speak German fluently'. Here the word fluently describes the verb speak and is hence an adverb.
I have sympathy since increasingly spoken English uses adjectives where adverbs should be used. This has probably come from slack American. A football manager might say' "the boys done good" when he means, "the boys did well". He gets the verb tense wrong and uses an adjective (good) instead of the adverb (well).

Answer 3

Normally, a word that ends in -ly is an adverb (the easiest way to think of it is that it describes the verb). So, although 'speak' is the verb, 'speak German' is the actual action, so we say 'I speak German fluently'. (So maybe it is easier to think of it describing the 'action', rather than the verb!)
The word 'fluent' by itself is an adjective, so it is used to describe a noun only. And in English we put the adjective before the noun, so we say: 'I speak fluent German'.

By the way, you aren't a pain in the neck! What is annoying is when people who have been speaking 'English' all their lives can't be as bothered as you are to learn basic rules of grammar!

Answer 4

It depends on the function of fluent. Do you want to use it as an adjective or an adverb?

I would say: I speak German fluently. (fluently describes how I speak Geman; so it describes a verb)

or: I speak fluent German (fluent describes the language I can speak;)

I think you can say both of those sentences described above.

Answer 5

Fluent is an adjective and fluently is an adverb.

An adverb modifies any part of language, verbs, adjectives (including numbers),clauses, sentences (and other adverbs) except for noun.

So, the precise sentence is:
I speak German fluently - fluently modifies the word speak (verb),as you speak fluently

An ADJECTIVE modifies a noun

So, the precise sentence is:

I speak fluent German -fluent modifies the word German(noun)

Answer 6

I speak fluent German

I speak fluently in German

Answer 7

ly endings apply to things that have been done ie past tense, for example: I speak German fluently rather than my German is fluent. The same would apply to : I wash my clothes carefully rather than when I wash my clothes I am careful. Hope that helps you.

Answer 8

Fluent is an adjective which in your example refers to the noun German.
Fluently is an adverb which modifies or describes a verb, e.g., I speak German fluently.

Answer 9

when you are saying you speak fluent german, fluent is an adj. modifying German. When you say I speak german fluently, fluently is an adv. modifying speak (how you speak).For careful and carefully you could say "I am always careful" (it is describing you, so it is an adj). and you could say "I was walking carefully" (describing the way you were walking). Adverbs end in -ly. sorry if that is confusing. lol

Answer 10

I speak fluent German
-or-
I speak German fluently