Most adverbs are formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives. For instance, the adjective "smart" becomes the adverb "smartly.' If the adverb answers the question "How?" or if one of the four senses -- taste, smell, look, feel -- is the verb, the adverb should always end in -ly. When adjectives do not change form to become adverbs, they are called flat adverbs. For example, in the sentence "The late train arrived at noon," the word "late" is an adjective. But in the sentence "The train arrived late," the word "late" is an adverb.
Adverbs can have several different positions in a sentence. For instance, in the sentence "The child excitedly explored the toy store," the word "excitedly" is the adverb. The sentence is also correct with the adverb in different positions, such as "The child explored the toy store excitedly" or "Excitedly, the child explored the toy store."
When there is more than one adverb in a sentence, the sentence should adhere to the following order: verb, manner, place, frequency, time and purpose. For example, "The woman walks briskly in the park every day before noon to stay in shape." In general, when two adverbial phrases are in the same sentence, the shorter phrase comes before the longer phrase. Additionally, the more specific adverb should precede the other.
It's important to note the position of adverbs when there is a risk that the adverb or adverbial phrase could change the meaning of the sentence. The sentence "The news reporter announced that the man died of a heart attack on the six o'clock news" has a misplaced modifier, because the man did not die on the six o'clock news; "on the six o'clock news" is modifying the news reporter. The phrase "on the six o'clock news" should be placed after the word "announced" to keep it clear that "announced" is what it is modifying.
In general, the -ly ending should usually be in place when a sentence is comparing one thing with another. For instance, the sentence "She ran more quickly than he did" is correct, but the sentence "She ran more quicker than he did" is incorrect. There are several exceptions to this rule; for instance, the rule does not apply words such as "fast" or "far" when they are used in the comparison form. Although the sentence "She ran faster than he did" contains a comparison, the adverb "faster" does not have an -ly form.
These two words often become confused, so it's important to remember that the word "good" is an adjective and "well" is an adverb. For example, in the sentence "You did a good job," "good" describes "job," so it is an adjective. Alternatively, in the sentence "You did the job well," "well" describes the how you performed the verb "did" and is therefore an adverb.