当你想说某人怎样做某事时——不只是说他开车,而是说他 carefully 开车——英语会用一个方式副词She speaks quietly. He works hard. They sang beautifully. 这些小词通常来自形容词,而且大多数都遵循一个简单的规律。

方式副词描述一个动词(动作),回答*怎样?*这个问题——How does she speak? Quietly.

快速提示:大多数方式副词只要给形容词加上 -ly——slow → slowlycareful → carefullyquiet → quietly。有几个常用词是不规则的(下面会看到),但 形容词 + -ly 涵盖了大部分方式副词。

从形容词构成副词

大多数方式副词就是形容词 + -ly

slow → slowly · quiet → quietly · careful → carefully · bad → badly

有些在加 -ly 时拼写会变化:

形容词结尾 副词结尾 例子
辅音 + -y -ily happy → happilyeasy → easilyangry → angrily
辅音 + -le 去掉 e,加 -y gentle → gentlysimple → simplyterrible → terribly
-ic -ically automatic → automaticallydramatic → dramatically

少数较短的形容词保留 -y,只加 -lyshy → shyly);-ic 的一个常见例外是 public → publicly

不规则副词

一小组日常词-ly。最重要的是 good,它的副词是 well

  • She's a good singer. She sings well.——在标准英语里,而不是 ❌ She sings good.

有几个形容词与副词形式相同——完全不加 -ly

形容词 副词 例子
fast fast He runs fast.(绝不是 ❌ fastly
hard hard They work hard.
late late I arrived late.
early early She got up early.

有两个词需要特别小心——它们看起来像 hardlate 的副词,意思却完全不同:

  • hardly = 几乎不——I hardly slept.(不是 hard 的副词)
  • lately = 最近——Have you seen him lately?(不是 late 的副词)

副词放在哪里

方式副词通常放在动词之后,或动词 + 宾语之后。要避免的位置是动词和短宾语之间

  • She speaks English fluently. / ❌ She speaks fluently English.
  • He opened the box carefully. / ❌ He opened carefully the box.

没有直接宾语时,它常常紧跟在动词后面:They waited patiently. 想要略显正式的语气,它也可以放在主要动词之前She carefully opened the box.

形容词还是副词?

这是几乎让所有人都犯难的选择。形容词描述名词(人或物);方式副词描述动词(动作):

  • a quick runner(形容词 + 名词)→ She runs quickly.(动词 + 副词)
  • a beautiful voice → ✅ She sings beautifully.,绝不是 ❌ She sings beautiful.

所以,当一个词说明动作怎样发生时,几乎总是需要 -ly 副词。

在中文里,状语通常用助词 来标记:安静 → 安静地说认真 → 认真地看。英语则用 -ly 来标记(careful → carefully)——道理相通,新的地方在于不能直接用光秃秃的形容词:❌ She sings beautiful。另外,中文的「好」在英语里要分成 good(形容词)和 well(副词)。

有一个重要的例外。在 be 以及 look、feel、smell、taste、sound 等感官动词之后,英语用形容词,因为这个词描述的是主语,而不是动作:

  • The soup smells good.(不是 ❌ smells well
  • You look tired. — ✅ That sounds great.

(值得注意:well 也可以是形容词,意思是健康——I feel well today——所以 feel well 也是对的。)

常见错误

  • She sings very beautiful. → ✅ She sings very beautifully.
  • He drives too fastly. → ✅ He drives too fast.
  • I speak English good. → ✅ I speak English well.
  • They work very hardly. → ✅ They work very hard.hardly 意思是几乎不
  • He speaks English perfect. → ✅ He speaks English perfectly.
  • She speaks fluently French. → ✅ She speaks French fluently.

小测验

选出正确的词:

  1. He always drives ____ (careful / carefully).
  2. She speaks three languages ____ (fluent / fluently).
  3. I can't hear you — you're speaking very ____ (quiet / quietly).
  4. They worked ____ (hard / hardly) all weekend.
  5. This cake tastes ____ (good / well).
显示答案
  1. carefully   2. fluently   3. quietly   4. hard   5. goodtaste 是感官动词,所以用形容词)

要点回顾

  • 方式副词说明动作怎样发生,描述动词She sings well
  • 大多数是形容词 + -lyslow → slowly),并对 -yhappy → happily)、-legentle → gently)和 -icautomatic → automatically)有拼写变化。
  • 关键不规则形式:good → wellfast、hard、late、early 保持相同形式(绝不是 ❌ fastly)。
  • 副词放在动词或其宾语之后,而不是中间:✅ speaks English fluently
  • belook、smell、taste 等感官动词之后,用形容词而不是副词:✅ It smells good