The Adverb of Heart: Heartily
The adverb of heart is heartily.
How heartily is formed
Heart is a noun, so the adverb takes two steps and a spelling change: heart → hearty → hearti + ly = heartily. The y becomes i at the second step.
The same two-stage route as beauty → beautiful → beautifully. There is no adverb heartly.
Heartily in a sentence
| He laughed heartily at the joke. | With full, unrestrained energy. |
| They ate heartily after the walk. | With good appetite. |
| I heartily agree. | Wholeheartedly. |
Where it is actually used
Knowing the form is one thing; knowing the company a word keeps is what makes it sound natural. These are the patterns heartily appears in most often.
| laughed / ate / sang heartily | Doing something with full energy. |
| heartily agree / approve / welcome | Enthusiastic endorsement. |
| heartily sick of / tired of | A fixed idiom meaning thoroughly fed up. |
Heartily or something else?
Several adverbs sit close to heartily, and the difference is usually meaning rather than formality.
| wholeheartedly | About commitment without reservation. It fits agreement, not laughter. |
| enthusiastically | About visible eagerness rather than fullness. |
| warmly | About affection. Heartily is about energy. |
The mistake to watch for
| Incorrect | Correct |
| heartly | heartily |
The adjective hearty is the bridge, and its y becomes i before the ending. No adverb is built directly on heart.
One word, two opposite moods. Laughed heartily is cheerful; heartily sick of it is anything but. In the second phrase heartily has kept only its sense of thoroughness, and the warmth has gone. It is worth reading the whole phrase before assuming the tone.
Related forms
Pronunciation: HART-i-lee, three syllables.
| Noun | heart |
| Adjective | hearty |
| Adverb | heartily |
| Related | wholeheartedly, heartfelt |
Practice
Fill the gap, then check yourself.
- The guests ate ___ after the long journey.
- I ___ endorse this proposal.
- She is ___ tired of the excuses.
Answers: 1. heartily 2. heartily / wholeheartedly 3. heartily
Frequently asked
Is heartily old-fashioned?
Slightly. It is still current in heartily agree and heartily sick of, but laughed heartily now reads as a little literary.
