The Adverb of True: Truly
The adverb of true is truly.
How truly is formed
Drop the silent -e, then add -ly: true → tru + ly = truly.
Most -e adjectives keep the letter (pure → purely, sincere → sincerely). Only a very short list drops it: true → truly, whole → wholly, due → duly. Learn those three and the rest follow the ordinary rule.
Truly in a sentence
| The performance was truly remarkable. | Intensifying, and stronger than really. |
| I truly believe she meant well. | Sincerity rather than emphasis. |
| It is not truly a democracy. | In the strict sense of the word. |
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 truly appears in most often.
| truly remarkable / great / awful | Intensifying an adjective. |
| truly believe / understand / regret | Vouching for sincerity. |
| Yours truly | A letter close, and also a jokey way of referring to oneself. |
Truly or something else?
Several adverbs sit close to truly, and the difference is usually meaning rather than formality.
| really | Far more common in speech, and weaker. Truly sorry carries more weight than really sorry. |
| genuinely | Almost identical in the sincerity sense, and slightly more neutral. |
| honestly | Often warns that what follows may be unwelcome. |
The mistake to watch for
| Incorrect | Correct |
| truely | truly |
The e is dropped. Truely is among the most common misspellings in English, precisely because it follows the rule that nearly every other -e adjective obeys.
Yours truly. As a letter close it is American and fairly formal. It also survives as a piece of self-deprecating slang: and who had to clean it up? Yours truly. The two uses are unrelated in tone and rarely confused in practice.
Related forms
Pronunciation: TROO-lee, two syllables.
| Adjective | true |
| Adverb | truly |
| Noun | truth |
| Same exception | whole → wholly, due → duly |
Practice
Fill the gap, then check yourself.
- That was a ___ extraordinary result.
- I am ___ sorry for the delay.
- The document was ___ signed and witnessed.
Answers: 1. truly 2. truly / genuinely 3. duly
Frequently asked
Why do true and whole drop the e when pure does not?
There is no rule behind it, only history. These spellings settled before English spelling was standardised, and they simply never regularised. They have to be memorised.
