In this post we’ll be looking at adverbs of manner and how to form them.
Spoiler alert! They’re unbelievably easy to form! We’ll soon see why.
| Purpose |
First, a little clarification on what adverbs are.
| Adverbs indicate how an action is performed. They can also add intensity to an adjective. |
| Formation |
| In order to form an adverb, find an adjective and take the adjective ending away [-ый, –ой, –ий), giving us the stem. With the stem located, add the proper ending, which is almost always –o. |
Let’s take a look:
| adjective | stem | adverb |
|---|---|---|
| красивый [beautiful] | [красив-] – | красиво – |
громкий [loud] | [громк-] – | громко – |
| тихий [quiet] | [тих-] – | тихо – |
Now that we know how to form adverbs of manner from adjectives, we can add greater detail to our sentences.
| Русский красиво звучит. Russian sounds beautiful. |
| Она громко храпит. She snores loudly. |
| Он тихо говорит. He talks quietly. |
Here are some commonly used adjectives, along with their related adverb.
| частый [often] | [част-] – | часто – |
| редкий [rare] | [редк-] – | редко – |
| простой [simple] | [прост-] – | просто – |
| постоянный [constant] | [постоянн-] – | постоянно – |
| медленный [slow] | [медленн-] – | медленно – |
| быстрый [quick] | [быстр-] – | быстро – |
| вкусный [tasty] | [вкусн-] – | вкусно – |
| интересный [interesting] | [интересн-] – | интересно – |
| плохой [bad] | [плох-] – | плохо – |
| хороший [good] | [хорош-] – | хорошо – |
| правильный [correct] | [правильн-] – | правильно – |
| отличный [excellent] | [отличн-] – | отлично – |
| обычный [usual] | [обычн-] – | обычно – |
| ужасный [awful] | [ужасн-] – | ужасно – |
| сложный [complex] | [сложн-] – | сложно – |
| странный [strange] | [странн-] – | странно – |
| высокий [high] | [высок-] – | высоко – |
| прямой [straight] | [прям-] – | прямо – |
| вежливый [polite] | [вежлив-] – | вежливо – |
| грубый [rude] | [груб-] – | грубо – |
| дорогой [expensive] | [дорог-] – | дорого – |
| весёлый [merry] | [весел-] – | весело – |
| дешёвый [cheap] | [дёшев-] – | дёшево – |
| ясный [clear] | [ясн-] – | ясно – |
| нежный [tender] | [нежн-] – | нежно – |
| For the most part, the stress doesn’t change when an adverb is formed from a verb. However, there are exceptions. I highlighted them. Pay attention to adjectives ending in –ой, as the stress is almost always different when an adverb is formed from them. |
More example sentences:
| Ученик очень хорошо знает тему. The student knows the topic very well. |
| В то время я плохо говорил по-русски. At that time, I spoke Russian badly. |
| Муж и жена весело танцевали. The husband and wife danced merrily. |
As you’ve probably noticed, adverbs usually come before the verb, they can be placed at the end of a sentence, and if placed there, they tend to add more emphasis.
| Они плохо говорят по-русски. They speak Russian badly. |
| Они говорят по-русски плохо. They speak Russian badly. |
| Although a rare occurrence, some soft adjectives like искренний [sincere] and крайний [extreme], and adverbs affected by the spelling rules take the ending –е instead of –o. |
| Они искренне отвечают. They answer sincerely. |
| Сегодня крайне жарко. Today it’s extremely hot. |
| по-русски (lit. in the Russian way) falls in the category of adverbs of manner, but we’ll talk explore it, and ones like it, in another post. |
I guess that’s all for this post. We’re not done with adverbs yet. We have more posts related to adverbs on the way.
Just think! With each post, we dive deeper into Russian, and, as a result, your knowledge improves.
Want to test yourself? Take the quizzes.
| Last Edit: 12/05/2025. |
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