Adjectives vs adverbs of manner

Adjectives describe nouns — they tell us what a person or thing is like. We place them before a noun ('a quiet street') or after linking verbs such as be, look, feel, seem, and sound ('The music sounds loud'). Adverbs of manner describe verbs — they tell us how an action is done and usually come after the verb or its object ('She sang beautifully'). Most adverbs of manner are formed by adding -ly to the adjective: slow → slowly, quiet → quietly. There are small spelling rules to remember: adjectives ending in -y change y to i before adding -ly (happy → happily, easy → easily, heavy → heavily). A few adverbs are irregular: the adjective good becomes the adverb well ('She is a good dancer' / 'She dances well'), and fast and hard stay the same for both adjective and adverb ('a fast car' / 'He drives fast'). Never confuse 'good' (adjective) with 'well' (adverb). For example: 'The students worked hard and answered the questions well, so the teacher was happy with their careful work.'