Why are "quickly" and "softly" adverbs and "stately" and "comely" adjectives?

Question

I realize english is a mishmash of borrowed words. I'm curious as to whether there are any distinct traits among these "...ly" words that would correspond with their use. (If that makes any sense.)

Okay, folks. I know what adverbs and adjectives are. I'm looking for background on the varying conventions of the "ly" suffix/syllable.

Answer 1

The key is to look at the root word. The root words Quick and Soft are adjectives. When an adjective is altered with an "ly", it will always be an adverb. State is a noun and Come is an outdated special case. In general, nouns modified with an "ly" are adjectives.

Answer 2

An adjective describes a noun/pronoun and an adverb describes a verb. We would say "It looks nice" because the 'nice' is an adjective and describes the noun/pronoun (it) not the verb (look). If we said "it looks nicely", then nicely would be an adverb describing the verb, i.e. describing how or in what manner it is looking, but it's a nonsensical sort of statement and you wouldn't generally use it. "It looks well" also uses an adjective (well), although the meaning is somewhat different there, don't you think? You might say that about a horse or other animal, but you wouldn't say it about food or something inanimate, whereas "It looks nice" could be used for either and doesn't refer to the subject's health or wellbeing.

Answer 3

An adjective qualifies or modifies a noun or a pronoun. An adverb qualifies or modifies a verb. Generally speaking English is a hybrid of several pure languages like Arabic,Greek,Hebrew,Latin,Mandarin,Sanskrit and a few others. American English like American citizens migrated from all over the world. Spelling,grammar,diction,accent and usage defy logic.

Answer 4

Words are defined as certain parts of speech based on how they are used.

Here are some example sentences:
I went to the store quickly.
He crept down the stairs softly.
That's a stately mansion over there.
She has a comely hairdo.

You'll notice that, in these sentences, "quickly" and "softly" are used to modify verbs ("went" and "crept"), while "stately" and "comely" are used to modify nouns ("mansion" and "hairdo"). By definition, an adverb modifies verbs and an adjective modifies nouns.

Notice that you can't use these words to do the other thing;
*I went to the store stately.
*He crept down the stairs comely.
*That's a quickly mansion over there.
*She has a softly hairdo.
The asterisk at the beginning of each of these sentences indicates that the sentence doesn't work.

In short, parts of speech are assigned simply by observing where a certain word works or doesn't work in relationship to other parts of a sentence. It has nothing to do with the "ly".

Answer 5

Quick and soft are adjectives, so the suffix makes them into adverbs. They are used to modifiy a verb. State and come are verbs so the suffix makes them into adjectives that will be used to describe a noun.
And now I need a drink..

Answer 6

Quickly and softly are adding to an action. Stately and comely are describing a person, place or thing.
There is a page that can fill you in about the classifications of "ly"
Here: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Adverb

Answer 7

It isn't just the word ending, it is the word that it modifies.

Since 'quickly' and 'softly' modify verbs...they tell HOW an action is done...they are adverbs.

Since 'stately' and 'comely' describe nouns, telling what someONE or someTHING is like, they are adjectives.

Answer 8

Quickly and softly are aspects of verbs whereas comely and stately are descriptive of nouns.

Answer 9

Stately and comely describe nouns, and are thus adjectives.

Quickly and softly are descriptions of verbs, and are thus adverbs.

Answer 10

Adverbs describe action. adjectives describe appearance.

Easy huh.
Jonnie