Suffix -ly Adverb Formation
Practice adding -ly to adjectives: quickly, slowly, happily, quietly, carefully.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
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.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintStress the part of the sentence that changes, or point to the word ending.Log as cued
- Sentence starterSay the first half of the sentence and let the student finish it.Log as cued
- ModelSay the correct form in the whole sentence; the student repeats it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a sentence starter every time, and do fewer cards.
Ask for a new sentence of the student's own with the same form, with no card to lean on.
Matching IEP goal
Given sentence cards, Student will produce the target grammatical form in sentences in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →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.
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.
What's in this activity
- quick → quickly
- slow → slowly
- happy → happily
- quiet → quietly
- careful → carefully
- loud → loudly
- soft → softly
- easy → easily
- sad → sadly
- neat → neatly
- brave → bravely
- sudden → suddenly
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.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.