How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb

How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb How to Convert an Adjective to an Adverb By Mark Nichol How do you determine whether the adverbial form of an adjective should end in -ly or -ally? For most adjectives, the reason to use -ally, rather than -ly, is that you’re adding -ly to a noun plus the inflection -al, which forms the adjective, as in emotionally, musically, or traditionally. You’re starting with emotion, music, or tradition, converting the noun to an adjective (emotional, musical, or traditional), and then adding -ly. But this process isn’t consistent. The adjectival form of romance is romantic, not romantical, nor are academical or sarcastical adjectival forms. But you can distinguish these exceptions by noting that the noun form of these words is not the word minus -al; those forms are the adjectival ones, and the noun forms are irregular: Romantic is derived from romance, not romant; academic comes from academy, not academ; and sarcastic stems from sarcasm, not sarcast. A generalization is that -ally follows words that end with the letter c; however, the adverbial form of public is publicly, not publically, and there may be other exceptions. In addition, some words bereft of the letter c, like sentimentally, are anomalously constructed. Note, too, that other major parts of speech include words that end in -ly: for example, the nouns ally and bully, the adjectives friendly and lonely, and the verbs apply and supply. (Also, adjectives ending in -ly have no adverbial form.) To summarize, if an adjective ends in -al, append -ly to produce its adverbial form. If an adjective does not end in -al, attach -ly without inserting -al first to transform it into an adverb. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to use "on" and when to use "in"Hyper and Hypo45 Idioms About the Number One

Hind and Behind

Hind and Behind Hind and Behind Hind and Behind By Mark Nichol This post discusses the words in which the element hind, pertaining to location or movement in or to the rear, appears. The adjective hind means â€Å"back† or â€Å"rear.† Hindbrain refers to the rear part of the brain. Hindquarters denotes the rear part of a four-legged animal, though the term is sometimes used informally in place of â€Å"buttocks,† and a hind shank is a cut of meat from the upper part of an animal’s hind leg. (Heinie, and its alternate spelling, hiney, are slang terms for the buttocks.) To hinder is to hold or keep back, and something that does so is a hindrance. (Hinder is also a comparative of the adjective hind, meaning â€Å"more behind.†) Hindmost is a synonym for last, seldom used but widely known from the expression â€Å"The devil take the hindmost.† Hindsight means â€Å"perception of an event after it occurs† and is usually seen in the phrase â€Å"in hindsight† or in the expression â€Å"Hindsight is twenty-twenty,† which means that one’s vision is clear (at 20/20 acuity) in retrospect because it is easier to analyze and judge an event after the fact than before it occurs. Hinterland, taken directly from German, means â€Å"back country,† connoting an area far inland or remote from urban areas. Behind stems from the Old English adverb and preposition behindan, meaning â€Å"after† or â€Å"at the back of†; the first syllable means â€Å"by,† and hindan means â€Å"from behind.† The compound behindhand, serving as an adjective and an adverb, means â€Å"in a backward state† (of development or thinking) or â€Å"in the rear†- or, perhaps formed on the model of beforehand, â€Å"unable to pay.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherProbable vs. PossibleIf I Was vs. If I Were