Last week we talked about changing adjectives into adverbs. We often add -ly to an adjective to make it an adverb.
However, some words do not change when going from adjective to adverb. Some words act as both adjective and adverb without changing at all. Today we will talk about words that can be both an adjective and an adverb.
Let’s look at the word late.
We can use late as an adjective. I went to the late movie. In this sentence, late modifies the noun movie.
We can also use late as an adverb. I went late to the movie. Here, late modifies the verb went. Late tells how you went.
Words that work as both adjective and adverb:
early
daily
weekly
monthly
yearly
inside
outside
fast
hard
left
right
straight
Here are some sentences using these words as an adjective modifying a noun:
On the highway, drive in the left lane.
Be sure to use the inside lane to pass.
I read the daily newspaper.
This is a fast train.
That was a hard test.
In each sentence, the adjective modifies a noun. What kind of lane? left lane or inside lane.
What type of newspaper, train, or test? a daily newspaper, a fast train, a hard test.
Now in these sentences, the same words act as adverbs modifying the verbs:
I turned left at the intersection.
I ran inside.
I read the newspaper daily.
The train went fast.
The pitcher threw hard.
How did you turn? turned left. Where did you run? ran inside. When did you read? read daily.
How did the train go? went fast. How did the pitcher throw? threw hard.
Remember – Adverbs do not always end in -ly, and sometimes, an adverb is the same word as an adjective.
How can you tell them apart? Look to see which word is being modified.
I drew a straight line. Straight is an adjective that modifies the noun line.
I drove straight down the road. Straight is an adverb telling how you drove.