Flat adverbs

Flat adverbs

                

Adjectives that do not change form (add -ly) to become adverbs are called "flat adverbs."

                   

Typical flat adverbs are early, late, hard, fast, long, high, low, deep, near.

                 

To determine whether these words are functioning as adjectives or adverbs, one must determine

1)  what the word is describing (noun or verb)

2)  what question the word is answering

The following examples illustrate the distinction.

Early as adjective:

Early describes the noun train and answers the question "which one?"

Early as adverb:

Early describes the verb arrived and answers the question "when?"

Hard as adjective:

Hard describes the noun pass and answers the question "what kind?"

Hard as adverb:

Hard describes the verb threw and answers the question "how?"