List of Adverbs A to Z: 108 Adverbs with Example Sentences

Adverbs 11 min read Updated 5 October 2026

An adverb tells you how, when, where, how often or how much something happens: she sings beautifully, we left early, he rarely calls. Most adverbs are made by adding -ly to an adjective, but several of the most common ones, such as very, often, here, now and well, have no -ly at all.

This page gives you the common adverbs grouped by the question they answer, a dozen example sentences, and then an A to Z list of 108 adverbs, each with the word it comes from and an example sentence. After the list come the adverbs that keep the adjective’s form, how nouns and verbs get an adverb, and the words that have no adverb at all.

Common adverbs by type

Every adverb answers a question about the sentence. Grouping them by that question is the quickest way to learn them, and each type has its own page with more examples.

Type	Answers	Common adverbs	Example	More
Manner	How?	quickly, slowly, carefully, well, badly, hard, fast, quietly, easily	She drove carefully.	Adverbs of manner
Time	When?	now, then, today, tomorrow, soon, later, already, yet, still, recently, ago	I saw him two days ago.	Adverbs of time; ago
Place	Where?	here, there, everywhere, nowhere, inside, outside, nearby, away, abroad, upstairs	The kids are playing outside.	Adverbs of place
Frequency	How often?	always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never, daily, again, twice	We usually eat at seven.	Adverbs of frequency; once and twice
Degree	How much?	very, too, quite, rather, almost, nearly, completely, extremely, enough, hardly	The soup is too hot.	Adverbs of degree
Reason and result	Why? With what result?	therefore, so, thus, hence, consequently	It was late, so we went home.	Adverbs of reason
Comment and certainty	What does the speaker think?	fortunately, honestly, frankly, probably, certainly, perhaps, clearly	Fortunately, the rain stopped.	More kinds of adverbs

For the full classification, including interrogative, relative and conjunctive adverbs, see types of adverbs.

Adverb examples in sentences

The adverb in each sentence is in bold, with the job it does in brackets.

She sings beautifully. (manner: how she sings)
We are leaving tomorrow. (time)
Please wait here. (place)
He rarely eats breakfast. (frequency)
The water is extremely cold. (degree: describes the adjective cold)
She ran very quickly. (degree: describes the adverb quickly)
Unfortunately, the shop was closed. (comment: describes the whole sentence)
I have already finished. (time)
They worked hard all day. (manner, a flat adverb with no -ly)
Where did you park? (interrogative: asks a question)
He almost missed the bus. (degree)
The children played happily outside. (manner, then place)

The examples show the four things an adverb can describe: a verb (sentences 1 and 4), an adjective (5), another adverb (6), or a whole sentence (7). When two or more adverbs end a sentence, they usually go in the order manner, place, time; see the order of adverbs.

List of adverbs from A to Z

Each row gives the adverb, the word it comes from, and an example sentence. Where the source word is a noun or a verb, the row shows the adjective in between, because English almost never adds -ly to a noun or verb directly. For the spelling rules behind these forms (happy to happily, gentle to gently), see adjective to adverb.

Adverb	Comes from	Example
A
ably	able	She handled the difficult questions ably. Adjectives ending in -le after a consonant drop the e and add -y.
angrily	angry	He slammed the door angrily.
attractively	attractive	The food was attractively arranged on the plate.
B
badly	bad	The team played badly in the first half.
beautifully	beautiful; beauty (noun)	She sings beautifully. The noun beauty has no adverb of its own; go through the adjective beautiful.
bravely	brave	The firefighters acted bravely.
brightly	bright	The sun shone brightly all afternoon.
busily	busy	The children were busily painting the fence.
C
calmly	calm	She explained the problem calmly.
carefully	careful	Carry the glasses carefully.
carelessly	careless	He carelessly left the door unlocked.
cheerfully	cheerful	The waiter greeted us cheerfully.
cleverly	clever	The puzzle was cleverly designed.
clumsily	clumsy	He clumsily knocked over his coffee.
coolly	cool	She replied coolly, without looking up. Cool + ly gives a double l.
courageously	courage (noun) → courageous	The villagers worked courageously through the flood.
cruelly	cruel	The animals had been treated cruelly.
D
dangerously	dangerous	He was driving dangerously close to the edge.
deeply	deep; depth (noun)	I am deeply grateful for your help. Deep is also a flat adverb for physical depth: dig deep, dive deep.
differently	different; difference (noun)	Twins often see things differently.
E
easily	easy	She won the race easily.
empathetically	empathy (noun) → empathetic	The nurse listened empathetically to the patient’s worries. Empathically is also correct.
entirely	entire	I agree with you entirely.
F
fairly	fair	The teacher treats every student fairly. Fairly also means “quite”: a fairly easy test. The flat form survives in play fair.
faithfully	faithful	He visited his grandmother faithfully every Sunday.
far	far	How far did you walk? A flat adverb. See the adverb of far.
fast	fast	She runs fast. A flat adverb: there is no fastly.
fiercely	fierce	The two teams competed fiercely. See the adverb of fierce.
fluently	fluent	She speaks three languages fluently.
foolishly	foolish	I foolishly left my umbrella at home.
G
generously	generous	They donated generously to the hospital.
gently	gentle	Hold the baby gently. Not gentlely: the -le becomes -ly.
gladly	glad	I would gladly help you move.
gloomily	gloomy	He stared gloomily out of the window.
gloriously	glory (noun) → glorious	The day ended gloriously, with a sunset over the sea.
grandly	grand	The hotel was grandly decorated for the wedding.
H
happily	happy	The children played happily in the garden.
hard	hard	She works hard. Hardly means “almost not”, so she hardly works is nearly the opposite.
haughtily	haughty	She looked haughtily at the waiter.
heartily	heart (noun) → hearty	We laughed heartily at his story.
heavily	heavy	It rained heavily all night.
helpfully	helpful	A stranger helpfully pointed us to the station.
highly	high	She is a highly skilled surgeon. Highly means “very” or “very well” (highly recommended). For height, use the flat adverb high: The kite flew high.
honestly	honest	Please answer the questions honestly.
hopefully	hopeful	“Is it ready yet?” she asked hopefully. Also a sentence adverb meaning “I hope”: Hopefully, it will stop raining.
horribly	horrible	The plan went horribly wrong.
humbly	humble	He humbly accepted the award.
hungrily	hungry	The puppies ate hungrily.
hurriedly	hurry (verb) → hurried	She hurriedly packed her bag.
I
idly	idle	He sat idly by the window.
J
joyfully	joy (noun) → joyful	The crowd sang joyfully. Joyously is also used.
K
kindly	kind	She kindly offered me a lift.
L
late	late	The train arrived late. A flat adverb. Lately means “recently”: I haven’t slept well lately.
laughingly	laugh (verb) → laughing	“I forgot again,” he said laughingly. Correct but uncommon; with a laugh often sounds more natural.
lazily	lazy	The cat stretched lazily in the sun.
leisurely	leisure (noun)	We walked leisurely along the beach. Both an adjective and an adverb. The adjective is more common: at a leisurely pace.
long	long	Have you been waiting long? Used mainly in questions and negatives. In positive sentences say a long time: I waited a long time.
loudly	loud	The audience clapped loudly. Loud also works informally: Don’t talk so loud, read it out loud.
lovingly	love (noun) → loving	She lovingly restored the old piano.
luckily	luck (noun) → lucky	Luckily, nobody was hurt.
M
merrily	merry	The fire crackled merrily.
N
neatly	neat	Write your answers neatly.
nicely	nice	The plants are growing nicely. Keep the e: nicely.
noisily	noisy	The children ran noisily down the stairs.
O
obediently	obedient	The dog sat obediently by the door.
obscurely	obscure	The instructions were obscurely worded.
P
peacefully	peace (noun) → peaceful	The baby slept peacefully.
playfully	play (verb) → playful	The puppy nipped playfully at my fingers.
politely	polite	He politely declined the invitation. See the adverb of polite.
poorly	poor	The room was poorly lit.
productively	product (noun) → productive	We spent the afternoon productively. The adverb comes from productive, not directly from product.
purely	pure	We met purely by chance.
Q
quickly	quick	She quickly finished her homework.
quietly	quiet	Please close the door quietly.
R
readily	ready	She readily agreed to help. Readily means “willingly” or “easily” (readily available), not “in a ready way”.
really	real	I really enjoyed the film. Real as an adverb (real good) is informal speech; write really.
S
sadly	sad	She smiled sadly. Also a sentence adverb: Sadly, the shop has closed.
satisfactorily	satisfactory	The problem was resolved satisfactorily.
sharply	sharp	Prices rose sharply last year. Sharp is a flat adverb for exact times: at six o’clock sharp.
shyly	shy	The boy smiled shyly at his new teacher. One-syllable adjectives ending in y usually keep it.
significantly	significant	Sales have increased significantly.
sincerely	sincere	I sincerely hope you feel better soon.
sleepily	sleepy	He rubbed his eyes sleepily.
slowly	slow	The old man walked slowly up the hill. See slowly for when slow also works (go slow).
smilingly	smile (verb) → smiling	She answered smilingly. Rare; with a smile is the usual choice: She answered with a smile.
softly	soft	She spoke softly so as not to wake the baby.
soundly	sound	The children slept soundly after the trip. Here sound is the adjective meaning “deep, thorough”; the flat form appears in sound asleep.
steadily	steady	The river rose steadily all morning.
successfully	success (noun) → successful	She successfully completed the course.
sufficiently	sufficient	The room was not sufficiently heated.
surely	sure	Surely you don’t believe that? Surely often shows surprise or asks for agreement. Informally, sure works too: I sure am tired.
surprisingly	surprise (noun) → surprising	The test was surprisingly easy.
sweetly	sweet	The bird sang sweetly in the tree.
swiftly	swift	The river flowed swiftly after the storm.
sympathetically	sympathy (noun) → sympathetic	She nodded sympathetically as he told his story.
T
terribly	terrible	I’m terribly sorry for the delay.
tidily	tidy	Her clothes were folded tidily on the bed.
tiredly	tired	He sighed tiredly and closed his laptop. Correct but uncommon; wearily often sounds more natural.
truly	true	I am truly grateful. Drop the e: not truely.
U
usually	usual	I usually walk to work. See adverbs of frequency.
V
victoriously	victory (noun) → victorious	The army marched victoriously into the city. After verbs like return, the adjective is common: The team returned victorious.
W
warmly	warm	The hosts welcomed us warmly.
well	good	She plays the piano well. The adverb of good is a different word. See the adverb of good.
wholly	whole	I wholly agree with your decision. Drop the e: not wholely.
willingly	will (noun) → willing	He willingly gave up his seat. Wilfully (US willfully) is different: it means “deliberately”, usually of something wrong.
wisely	wise	She wisely saved half of her salary.
Y
yearly	year (noun)	The festival is held yearly. Also an adjective: a yearly festival.
Z
zealously	zealous	He zealously guarded his privacy.

Adverbs with the same form as the adjective

A few adverbs look exactly like their adjective. These are called flat adverbs: fast, hard, late, early, long, far, straight, daily. A fast car goes fast; there is no fastly. Some of them also have an -ly form, but with a different meaning, which is where most mistakes happen:

Flat adverb	-ly adverb	The difference
late	lately	She came home late. / Have you seen him lately? (recently)
hard	hardly	He works hard. / He hardly works. (almost not)
high	highly	The plane flew high. / a highly paid job (very)
deep	deeply	They dug deep. / She was deeply moved. (strongly)
near	nearly	They live near. / I nearly fell. (almost)
free	freely	Children travel free. (without paying) / Speak freely. (without limits)
sharp	sharply	at nine o’clock sharp (exactly) / Prices fell sharply. (suddenly)

Adverbs from nouns and verbs

People often look for “the adverb of” a noun such as courage or a verb such as play. Nouns and verbs do not take -ly directly; the adverb is built on the adjective that comes from them:

noun → adjective → adverb: courage → courageous → courageously, joy → joyful → joyfully, luck → lucky → luckily, success → successful → successfully, sympathy → sympathetic → sympathetically, victory → victorious → victoriously
verb → adjective → adverb: play → playful → playfully, hurry → hurried → hurriedly, love → loving → lovingly
a few time nouns take -ly directly and give words that are both adjective and adverb: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, hourly

Be careful with words that end in -ly but are adjectives: friendly, lovely, lonely, silly, costly, ugly. They have no adverb form, so use a phrase: She smiled in a friendly way, not friendlily.

Words with no adverb form

Some words simply have no adverb. When you need to say how the action was done, choose a different adverb that describes it.

celebrate (verb): There is no adverb made from celebrate, and the adjective celebratory has no common -ly form. Describe the celebrating instead: celebrate joyfully, celebrate quietly, celebrate together.
dance (verb): There is no dancely. Describe the dancing: dance gracefully, dance badly, dance energetically.
eat (verb): There is no eatly. Describe the eating: eat quickly, eat slowly, eat hungrily, eat well.
payment (noun): The related adjectives paid and payable have no -ly form. Describe the paying: pay promptly, pay monthly, pay late, pay in full.
survive (verb): No adverb exists. Use narrowly or barely for a close call (She narrowly survived the crash), or an adjective for the result (He survived unharmed).
visit (verb): No adverb exists. Describe the visiting: visit often, visit regularly, visit briefly, visit unexpectedly.

Where adverbs go in a sentence

Adverbs of manner usually go after the verb, or after the object if there is one: She opened the letter carefully, not She opened carefully the letter.
Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb but after be: He often walks to work; He is often late.
Comment adverbs usually start the sentence, followed by a comma: Honestly, I don’t mind.

The details and the exceptions are on the position of adverbs.

Practice: make the adverb

Turn the word in brackets into an adverb. Some need the spelling rules, one needs a different word, and two do not change at all.

She answered the question ______. (honest)
The baby slept ______. (peace)
He drives too ______. (fast)
Hold the kitten ______. (gentle)
I ______ agree with you. (whole)
She plays tennis very ______. (good)
They arrived ______ for the meeting. (late)
______, nobody was hurt. (luck)
He smiled ______ at the camera. (shy)
The work was done ______. (satisfactory)

Answers:

honestly
peacefully: the noun goes through the adjective peaceful
fast: a flat adverb, never fastly
gently
wholly
well
late: lately would mean “recently”
Luckily
shyly
satisfactorily

Quick answers

What are the most common adverbs?

The adverbs used most in everyday English are short words without -ly: very, really, also, just, not, so, now, then, here, there, well, often, always, never and still. Among -ly adverbs, really, only, actually, probably, usually and quickly are some of the most frequent.

Do all adverbs end in -ly?

No. Many common adverbs have no -ly (very, soon, here, often, well), and flat adverbs such as fast and hard look like adjectives. And not every -ly word is an adverb: friendly and lovely are adjectives.

What is the adverb of good?

Well: She is a good singer, but she sings well. More on the adverb of good.

How do I find the adverb of any adjective?

Add -ly and apply the spelling rules: y becomes i (happily), -le becomes -ly (gently), -ic becomes -ically (basically). The full rules and the exceptions are on adjective to adverb.

Author

Mateo Cruz

Born in Miami, Florida, Mateo is a bilingual educator with a Master's in Spanish Education. He has spent the last decade developing Spanish curricula. Mateo is passionate about helping students master conversational Spanish and everyday vocabulary.

List of Adverbs: Adverbs from A to Z with Examples