What is Adverb of Good?

There is little problem with the above question. Just because many adjectives can be converted to adverbs by adding -ly to them doesn’t mean adjectives have adverb forms. They’re different parts of speech, and not forms of each other. That’s why some adjectives (friendly, silly, deadly, and timely, to name few) don’t have any ‘adverb form’. This is unlike verbs which have different forms such as base form, present participle, and past participle.

Having said that, adverb well expresses meaning similar to adjective good. Examples:

That was good performance. [Good is modifying performance, a noun, attributively.]

Your performance was good. [Good is modifying Your performance, a noun phrase, predicatively.]

You performed well. [Well is modifying performed, a verb.]

As you know, adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. Well, an adverb, almost always modifies verbs, with the third example being a case in point.

Because of presence of -ly, the word goodly may seem to be an adverb, but it’s an adjective meaning great or large. Examples:

The eldest sibling inherited goodly size of the fortune. [Goodly is modifying size, a noun.]

Annual maintenance costs us a goodly amount. [Goodly is modifying amount, a noun.]

It’s an old-fashioned word though and not much in use. Good is better.

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Anil Yadav

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