LANGUAGE FOCUS – BASIC LEVEL – UNIT 4

This is my mother, Susana.

She works really hard. Every

morning she gets up early to
make breakfast for me and my
brothers before she goes to work.

She takes her job as a

nurse very seriously.
At the hospital it is
important to do
everything carefully.

Adverbs
ADJECTIVES ADVERBS
Adjectives tell us about a noun: Adverbs tell us about a verb:

Carla is a careful driver. Carla drives carefully.

quick serious adjective + -ly

careful quiet
bad slow quickly seriously
heavy sudden carefully* quietly
badly slowly
Not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. Some heavily* suddenly
adjectives end in -ly:
* pay attention to spelling
friendly lively lonely elderly

We can also use adverbs before adjectives and before other adverbs:

reasonably cheap (adverb + adjective)

incredibly quickly (adverb + adverb)
 SPECIAL CASES
Adjective Adverb

good well
fast fast
early early
late late *
hard hard **
* lately = recently
hardly = very little

Exercise 1
Complete each sentence using a word from the box. Sometimes you need the adjective,
sometimes the adverb.

good/well perfect(ly) nervous(ly) happy/happily quick(ly) hard

1) Our holiday was too short. The time passed very quickly.
2) Alejandra works ___________. She never seems to stop.
3) Maria’s English is very ________ although she sometimes makes mistakes.
4) I understand the explanation ___________.
5) Jennifer and Marc are very __________ married.
6) Do you usually feel __________ before exams?

Exercise 2
Choose a verb + an adverb to complete the sentences.

come know sleep win carefully clearly hard well

explain listen think work carefully easily quickly well

1) I’m going to tell you something important, so please listen carefully.

2) Antonio, I need your help! …………………………………………….!
3) They ……………………………………….. At the end of the day they’re always tired.
4) I’m tired this morning. I didn’t ………………………………….last night.
5) You’re a much better tennis player than me. When we play, you always ………………………….
6) ………………………………….before you answer the question.
7) I’ve met Selena a few times but I don’t …………… her very ……………..
8) Our teacher isn’t very good. Sometimes he doesn’t ………………… things very ……………..

Links for extra practice

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-practice/adverbs