When you think of adverbs in English, you probably think of words ending in “-ly” (like “probably”). You're right. Those are adverbs. Adverbs are words that modify (i.e., clarify or say something about) either verbs or adjectives. In English, many adverbs are created from adjectives. The same is true for Latin. So, since you have just learned about adjectives, now is a very good time to see how Latin creates adverbs from adjectives and forms their comparative degrees.

Virtually any adjective can be made into an adverb in English by adding the suffix “-ly.” “Thin” becomes “thinly,” “slow” becomes “slowly,” and so on. Latin also has suffixes that perform the same task. In Latin, though, there are two different endings, one for each of the two kinds of adjectives.

First/second declension adjectives add -ē to the modified stem:

Table 7-3 Adverb Formation for First/Second Declension Adjectives

Third declension adjectives add -iter to the modified stem:

Table 7-4 Adverb Formation for Third Declension Adjectives

Note that if the modified stem ends in -nt-, you only need to add -er.

There is a handful of adjectives that don't form adverbs the way you would expect them to. They are easier to recognize than the English adverb for “good,” which is “well” (not “goodly”!).

Table 7-5 Irregular Adverbs