Adjective or Adverb worksheet for students to identify and classify -ly words in sentences.

Let's solve this worksheet step by step.

Understanding the Task:

We are to:
1. Circle the word ending in -ly in each sentence.
2. Determine whether that word is an adjective or an adverb.
- Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (often tell *how*, *when*, *where*, *why*, or *to what extent*).
- Adjectives describe nouns (tell *what kind*, *which one*, *how many*, etc.).

Even though many adverbs end in -ly, some words ending in -ly are actually adjectives (e.g., "friendly", "elderly", "curly").

---

Step-by-step Analysis:

1. The smelly trash was in the kitchen for days.
- smelly → describes trash (a noun) → adjective
✔ Answer: adjective

2. The girls ran quickly from the room.
- quickly → describes ran (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

3. Hank burst into the room quite suddenly.
- suddenly → describes burst (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

4. I made friends with the friendly giraffe.
- friendly → describes giraffe (a noun) → adjective
✔ Answer: adjective

5. The baby slept peacefully in his crib.
- peacefully → describes slept (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

6. The elderly man is always in a poor humor.
- elderly → describes man (a noun) → adjective
✔ Answer: adjective

7. Celia admired her friend’s curly hair.
- curly → describes hair (a noun) → adjective
✔ Answer: adjective

8. The boys fought bravely side by side.
- bravely → describes fought (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

9. The sun shone brightly all afternoon.
- brightly → describes shone (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

10. The cuddly teddy bear was a great comfort.
- cuddly → describes teddy bear (a noun) → adjective
✔ Answer: adjective

11. The woman looked at me strangely.
- strangely → describes looked (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

12. He peered slyly around the corner.
- slyly → describes peered (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

13. Jill gestured sadly when they said goodbye.
- sadly → describes gestured (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

14. She tread softly up the stairs.
- softly → describes tread (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

15. The woman’s hand gently rocked the cradle.
- gently → describes rocked (a verb) → adverb
✔ Answer: adverb

---

✔ Final Answers:

| Sentence | -ly Word | Part of Speech |
|--------|--------------|----------------|
| 1 | smelly | adjective |
| 2 | quickly | adverb |
| 3 | suddenly | adverb |
| 4 | friendly | adjective |
| 5 | peacefully | adverb |
| 6 | elderly | adjective |
| 7 | curly | adjective |
| 8 | bravely | adverb |
| 9 | brightly | adverb |
| 10 | cuddly | adjective |
| 11 | strangely | adverb |
| 12 | slyly | adverb |
| 13 | sadly | adverb |
| 14 | softly | adverb |
| 15 | gently | adverb |

---

🔍 Key Takeaway:

- Words like smelly, friendly, elderly, curly, cuddly end in -ly but are adjectives because they describe nouns.
- Words like quickly, suddenly, peacefully, bravely, brightly, strangely, slyly, sadly, softly, gently are adverbs because they describe verbs.

✔ So, always ask: What is the word describing?
→ If it's a noun, it's likely an adjective.
→ If it's a verb, it's likely an adverb.

Let me know if you'd like a printable version or a study guide!