CHAPTER 36

Using ly, ally, ely, ily, lly, uly

The suffix ly is used to change an adjective into an adverb. There are a half dozen different ways to do

this, and there is a reason for each one. The rules are clear. There are few anomalies.

Spelling rule #1: In the vast majority of cases, we simply add ly to the root word:

(^) If the root word ends in l or if it has the suffix ful, we retain the l when we add ly. It will seem to have
doubled the l, but this is not a double l. It just looks like it.
(^) Spelling rule #2: If the root word ends in al, then the suffix must be ally:
(^) Spelling rule #3: Words ending in ic always use ally to retain the hard c. There are many words in
this group:
(^) The anomaly is public, which becomes publicly.
Spelling rule #4: In most cases the silent e is retained:
(^) But some commonly used words drop the silent e:
(^) Words ending in le simply change the e to a y:
(^) Spelling rule #5: Change the y to i before adding the suffix:
(^) But there is a small group of single-syllable words that do not change the y to i: