[etni] Re: grammar question - -ly adjectives vs adverbs

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Apologies for a typo in my previous "grammar rambling" ;-) : I wrote

1. there are *adverbs *(quick, hungry, pretty, angry)

intending to write

1. there are *ADJECTIVES *(quick, hungry, pretty, angry)

===========================================

There's something I have missed. Many adjectives look like adverbs 
because they end in -/ly/. For example: *

the monthly interest on this type of deposit is quite low*.

Here are some -/ly/ *adjectives* that you might see quite often: *

costly, ugly, burly, surly, neighborly, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, 
yearly*.

Naturally, when a comparative degree is formed, it receives the -er 
ending: *costly - costlier* (can't think of a "monthlier," though) but 
it still remains an *adjective *

(so Elizabeth's claim that *only* the word "friendly" can receive -er in 
comparative form is not exact.)

Unfortunately, the "rule" quoted by Adi ("anything of 3 syllables and 
above cannot have a suffix") does not work here: you cannot apply it 
indiscriminately to "anything" - you have to make a clear distincion 
between adjectives and adverbs. The rule does indeed apply to adjectives 
(to make a decision whether to use -er or "more"), but has nothing to do 
with adverbs.

Many thanks to everyone for sending me back to my grammar books. BTW, do 
you know that Lord Randolph Quirk was knighted for his contribution to 
the study of modern English grammar? We should keep at it folks - maybe 
one day we, too, get some distinction...

Best -

Lev









> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [etni] [FWD: grammar question]
> From: Lev Abramov <lev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> 1. there are adverbs (quick, hungry, pretty, angry) and adverbs
> (quickly, hungrily, prettily, angrily).
> 2. comparative degrees of shorter adjectives (like the ones above) are
> formed by adding the ending -er (quicker, hungrier, prettier, angrier)
> 3. comparative degrees of adverbs (no matter what length they are) are
> formed by adding the word "more" (more quickly, more hungrily, more
> prettily, more angrily)
>
> Consequently, we can come across both "quicker" (adjective) and "more
> quickly" (adverb) - but not *"quicklier."
>
> Examples:
>
> His face was angry - even angrier (adj) than hers.
> He looked at me angrily, and spoke to me even more angrily (adv).

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