adverbs

[MARAMARA]

Hi! I have read that wide belongs to those adverbs and an adjectives that have the same form. So my question is :Why did I see widely like a common usage? The same happens with freely, which appears in dictionaries as an adverb.
Another question of mine is: Is friendly only an adjective? So, might I say:" He has became friendly" "He speaks friendly to all his neighbours".
Please, correct my mistakes, I AM LEARNING.
tHANKS

[abaka]

Hi! I have read that wide belongs to those adverbs and an adjectives that have the same form. So my question is :Why did I see widely like a common usage? The same happens with freely, which appears in dictionaries as an adverb.
Another question of mine is: Is friendly only an adjective? So, might I say:" He has became friendly" "He speaks friendly to all his neighbours".
Please, correct my mistakes, I AM LEARNING.
tHANKS

"Widely" has the meaning "commonly, usually, among a large population, over a wide area".
"Wide" as an adverb has the literal meaning "in a wide fashion"

It is widely believed Obama will change the United States of America.
He is looking far and wide for good people to help him.
widely dispersed.
The door was wide open.

"Friendly" is usually an adjective, but is sometimes used as an adverb, as in your example, to mean "in a friendly way". To say "friendly" instead of "in a friendly way" seems quite informal, even casual. But it's not wrong.

PS. You should say "he became" or "he has become."

[MARAMARA]

So, do you mean that wide as an adverb has the meaning of a wide shape or form´? I´m afraid that I don´t understand the spanish meaning of wide fashion. Might it be that wide just refers to the width of something, like the wide open door of your example?
And, thanks, of course, I made a mistake, (but it was a typo??) he has become, or he became.
I am learning and your explanations are very useful (to, for?) me.

[abaka]

So, do you mean that wide as an adverb has the meaning of a wide shape or form´? I´m afraid that I don´t understand the spanish meaning of wide fashion. Might it be that wide just refers to the width of something, like the wide open door of your example?
And, thanks, of course, I made a mistake, (but it was a typo??) he has become, or he became.
I am learning and your explanations are very useful (to, for?) me.

So, do you mean that wide as an adverb has the meaning of a wide shape or form´? Yes

I´m afraid that I don´t understand the spanish meaning of wide fashion.. I meant "in a wide way, in a wide style". But that's not very helpful, I know.

Might it be that wide just refers to the width of something, like the wide open door of your example? Yes, that's right, but here "wide" is an adverb. "Wide" is usually an adjective, and "wide + -ly" = "widely" is the normal adverb formed from it. Still, "wide" is sometimes used as an adverb. Actually, your intuition is excellent. See my postscript.

He travelled far and wide. (very common set phrase far and wide)
Tom and Jerry's political opinions are wide apart. (far apart. compare above phrase)
The bullet went wide. = missed the target


PS. (added later) A grammatical explanation.

You probably know about the "copula" verbs. The main one is "to be", and, like all copula verbs, it takes an adjective. "Normal" verbs take, are modified by, an adverb. The essential distinction is that the adjective applies to the subject; the adverb, to the verb.

The results were bad. Copula. Adjective. The shelf was wide. Copula. Adjective.
The results seemed bad. Copula. The shelf seemed wide. Copula. Adjective.
The results went badly. Not copula(? -- Not copula, after all). Adverb. The bullet went wide. Copula? probably not. Adverb. -- looks like an adjective, though.
The results were badly received. Not copula. adverb. The results were widely discussed. Not copula. adverb.

As you can see, there is no sharp boundary between a copula verb and a non-copula verb. Once you start going away from straight "being", at some point you switch over to adverbs. But where, exactly? That is the question. The point is that "wide" as an adverb still retains a little of its force as an adjective; it still applies to the subject, a little, rather than fully to the verb.

[MARAMARA]

thank you abaka for your full answer. It is rather clear for me. But i should review about copula verbs to make you another question, which i am writing soon. I am only an english learner.
my best regards. Thank you again.:-d