English Usage. Words that end in "-ly"?

Question

Hope somebody is able to help with English Grammar rukes.

Are there any rules for words ending in ly ?

Not only spelling but also usage.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Accurately. Intentionally.Slowly. Quickly. Loudly. Friendly. Really. Suddenly. Purposefully. Lovely. Smelly. Heavenly. Knowingly. Lonely. Cuddly. Tenderly. Normally. Gracefully. Happily. Cheerlessly. Sleepily.Hardly. Wonderfully. Optimally. Financially. Independently. Securely. Neatly. Widely.

Hope these helped :-)

Answer 2

Words ending in -ly are usually adverbs, but not always. Jelly, for example, is a noun. The way to tell is to take away the -ly. If you end up with an adjective, then the original word was indeed an adverb. For example, in the first line of this reply is the word "usually". Take away the -ly and you have "usual", which is an adjective.

Be aware that not all adverbs end in -ly. For example, this lot are all adverbs...

Well
Fair
often
never


--Adverbs are usually used to describe verbs (actions)

eg: He usually goes to school by bicycle

the word "usually" tells us more about the action (go)

or: He walked slowly through the wood.


--However, they can also be used to describe adjectives

eg. John is incredibly stupid.

Here, the adverb "incredibly" tells us more about the adjective "stupid", which in turn describes the noun "John"


--AND other adverbs...

eg: The car has been extremely well looked-after.

Here, the adverb "extremely" describes the adverb "well", which describes the adjective "looked-after".

Answer 3

LY endings almost always indicate an adverb, That is a word which modifies a verb e.g. run quickLY, breathe deepLY etc.

Mostly, if you take the LY off the word you will be left with an adjective - a word that governs a noun e.g quick runner, deep breath.

Some example:
John runs quickly (adverb of runs)
John is a quick runner (adjective of runner)

There are a few irregulars:
John is a good swimmer (adjective of swimmer)
John swims well (Adverb without LY of swims)

Wouldn't life be easy if Engish were a science, we could parse more easily.

Answer 4

Always tack on "ly" when you use a word to modify a verb.
Ok, translated that means an adverb just about always needs an "ly" on the end of it. Adverbs answer the question "how".

For example:

She smiled sweetly at the young man.
How did she smile? sweetly

He lunged mightily at his opponent.
How did he lunge? mightily

I'm not a fan of rules, I just have read so much that I absorbed correct grammar usage pretty much effortlessly. Sorry.

Answer 5

Most -ly words (though not all) are adverbs - words that describe how an action is done.

If the root word ends in 'L' you will have two L's in the word e.g. gradual, gradually

You can ad -ly to a lot of adjectives to turn them into adverbs
e.g. mad, madly, sad, sadly

Some words that end in -ly but aren't adverbs are rally, friendly, lively, lonely, sickly

Answer 6

I dont think there are any rules that apply to words ending in "LY". The only thing I can thing of is if they are plurals of words, for instance.

Apply - singular, but plural is applied!
Multiply - singular, but the plural in multiple!

Hope this helps.

Answer 7

I think you mean an adverb - eg thoughtfully. It's a word which describes the verb associated with it.
e.g. She thoughtfully went about her errands.
If you can make a question of it, i.e. HOW did she go about her errands, answer thoughtfully, then you are using an adverb.

Answer 8

http://www.users.qwest.net/~yarnspnr/writing/adverbs/adverbs.htm
Here is a website which explains all about words ending in "ly" Hope it helps for you, Good luck.

Answer 9

Most of them are adverbs. That is, they describe, qualify, a verb or an adjective.

I walk slowly: tells you how I walk, describes the verb "walk".

It is completely stupid: tells you how stupid, what kind of stupid, describes the adjective "stupid".

But there are few, such as sly, fly, ply, smelly, belly, hilly, holly, that are not adverbs.

Answer 10

http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch25.html#1baj