Adverb question

[virus99]

Hi forum!

In my grammar books the rule says that adjectives with -e ending lose this e when you change them into an adverb.

I truly love you. (adjektiv: true)

But what about extremely (adjectiv: extreme) or absolutely (adjectiv: absolute)?

Is it becuase they have two syllables?

Thanks in advance!

[SlickVic9000]

*Not a Teacher*

Actually, a fare number of adjectives don't drop an -e when they become adverbs. Routinely, sanely, squarely, barely, loosely, innately, grotesquely, inanely, and lamely just to name a few. I'd consider adverbs like "truly" to be more the exception than the rule in this regard.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=virus99;821789]


NOT A TEACHER


(1) Member SlickVic seems to have hit the nail on the head.

(2) I found this on page 554 in the 1995 edition of Michael Swan's very popular and reliable Practical English Usage:

"We normally change an adjective into an adverb by adding -ly."

Mr. Swan's examples: late > lately/ complete > completely / definite > definitely/ pale > palely.

(3) Mr. Swan then tells us that there are exceptions, such as:

true > truly/ due > duly/ whole > wholly

(4) I have given Mr. Swan and his publisher (Oxford University Press) 100% credit, so I

hope that I can legally quote one more fact:

Adjectives ending in consonant + le:

idle > idly.
noble > nobly.
able> ably

(4) I think that native speakers do not learn such rules. (And if they do so in school, they soon forget the rules.) The best way is simply by reading a lot. Then little by little, you will learn which adjectives drop the "e" and which words do not. Trying to memorize spelling rules will drive most people bananas (crazy)!

[5jj]

Actually, a fare fair number of adjectives don't drop an -e

Welcome to the typophile's club, Vic. You have a long way to go before you can catch up with Barb and me.

[Barb_D]

(Just in case you're wondering about this, 5jj and I have an informal and unintentional contest going to see who can pack the most typos into our posts. I think I'm winning. He'll claim otherwise.)

[5jj]

Barb is losing, but seh will never amdit it.

[SlickVic9000]

Whoops, guess I was a little sleepy last night. But I suppose there are no excuses. You got me fare and square.

[5jj]

Whoops, guess I was a little sleepy last night. But I suppose there are no excuses. You got me fare and square.

Just in case learners are wondering, SlickVic deliberately used 'fare' instead of the correct 'fair' there. His attempts at humour are almost as pathetic as mine. Scroll down here fair adjective (RIGHT) - definition in British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionary Online to check.

My apologies to learners if this silliness (my fault) is confusing you. I promise not to make any deliberate typos again.

[TheParser]

[QUOTE=5jj;822008]Just in case learners are wondering


NOT A TEACHER


(1) We learners, I feel, are very grateful to SlickVic, Moderator Barb, and Teacher 5jj for their very humorous discussion.

(2) They reminded us learners that English spelling is always subject to change. Maybe speakers of some other languages are thinking: "The words in our language are always spelled the same. What's wrong with you English speakers?!"

(a) "Gray" in the United States; "grey" in the United Kingdom.

(b) We drive our cars through a tunnel, but that restaurant has a drive-thru window for people who want to buy food without leaving their cars!

(c) Many years ago, an important American newspaper tried to get Americans to spell "night" as "nite." (The last word is only used occasionally.)

(d) Old people like me still spell it as "catalogue," but most now prefer "catalog."

(e) In the "old days," people spelled it as "musick."

(3) Yes, my dear fellow learners, besides having a very difficult grammar, English also

has a really difficult spelling system. English is definitely NOT an easy language.

(Some of my examples are credited to Bill Bryson's 1990 book Mother Tongue/ English & How It Got That Way.)

[jahildebrandt]

Not a teacher.

Hi forum!

In my grammar books the rule says that adjectives with -e ending lose this e when you change them into an adverb.

I truly love you. (adjektiv: true)

But what about extremely (adjectiv: extreme) or absolutely (adjectiv: absolute)?

Is it becuase they have two syllables?

Thanks in advance!

One thing I've noticed as that adjectives like extremely and absolutely probably keep their E's to denote the elongated vowel in the word.

Consider TheParser's quoted adjectives:

Mr. Swan's examples: late > lately/ complete > completely / definite > definitely/ pale > palely.

Latly vs. lately, completly vs. completely, definitly vs. definitely, pally vs. palely.


The only one which seems out of place would be definitely. I'm not sure why this is; perhaps it had a different pronunciation. Or it could just be "irregular." Nonetheless, they all have E's which denote elongated vowel sounds in their words.

Maybe this will help you out.