How are adverbs formed

Last Updated on Sun, 29 Jul 2012 | Technical Writing

We can distinguish three types of adverbs:

simple	just, only, well, back, out, etc.
compound	therefore, hereby, herewith, etc.
derivational (mostly derived from adjectives with -ly)	equally, finally, markedly sideways, clockwise, northwards

Adjectives ending in both -ic and -ical have adverbs ending in -ically. The exception is public (adverb: publicly).

adjective	academic	chemical	geometric, geometrical	electric, electrical*	economic, economical*
adverb	academically	chemically	geometrically	electrically	economically

* The adjectives with asterisks have different meanings:

- electric: used with names of particular machines, e.g. electric motor, electric blanket

- electrical: used before more general words, e.g. electrical appliances, electrical engineering

- economic: refers to the science of economics or the economy of a country, e.g. economic theory, economic problems

- economical: means 'not wasting money', e.g. an economical car (= cheap to run)

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