About this activity
Twelve adjectives turned into adverbs: quick and quickly, slow and slowly, happy and happily, quiet and quietly, careful and carefully, easy and easily, brave and bravely, sudden and suddenly. The suffix changes what kind of word it is rather than what it means, which is a harder idea than a suffix that changes meaning.
How to use it in a session
Use both forms in a sentence rather than reading the pair. He is quick and he runs quickly show what the change of word class actually does, and that is the point — one describes him and the other describes how he runs. Happy to happily and easy to easily both change the spelling, and those two are worth doing together so the y-to-i pattern is met twice.
What to listen for
Listen for the adjective used where the adverb belongs. He runs quick is extremely common in speech, and it is a normal spoken form as well as an error in writing — worth knowing which context you are working on. Watch the spelling changes: happy becomes happily and easy becomes easily, both dropping the y for an i.
Carrying it home
Asking how somebody did something produces an adverb. How did she walk, how did he say it — the answer is naturally an -ly word and the question takes two seconds.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- First through fourth, as early adverb and suffix work.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve pairs play with no account.
- Is 'he runs quick' wrong?
- In writing it is usually marked wrong; in speech it is very common and passes unremarked. Which one you are working on decides how strictly to correct it.