Adverbs of Manner ESL Games, Worksheets & Activities
Adverb Animals
ESL Adverbs of Manner Activity - Vocabulary: Writing Descriptions, Guessing - Pair Work
In this interesting adverbs of manner activity, students describe an animal by writing sentences with verbs and manner adverbs. Students then guess each other's animals from the sentences. Students...
Battle it out
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentences, Freer Practice - Pair Work
Here is a free adverbs of manner game to help students practice basic manner adverbs. The aim of the game is for students to find all their opponent's battleships (adverbs) by calling out coordinates on a grid...
Complete the Exercises Carefully
ESL Adverbs of Manner Worksheet - Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Table Completion, Changing Word Forms, Gap-fill, Rewriting Sentences, Error Correction
Here is a comprehensive adverbs of manner worksheet to help introduce elementary students to some common manner adverbs. First, students read about...
The Right Adverb
ESL Adverbs of Manner Board Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Matching, Gap-fill, Guessing - Group Work
Here is an enjoyable adverbs of manner board game to help students practice various manner adverbs. In groups, students take turns picking up a card and reading the sentence to the other...
Adverbs Introduction
ESL Adverbs of Manner Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Word Formation, Rewriting Sentences, Binary Choice, Gap-fill, Guessing - Pair Work
This productive adverbs of manner worksheet helps to teach students how to form and use manner adverbs. To begin, students match sentence halves together...
My Way
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Sentence Completion, Forming Sentences, Asking and Answering Questions, Guessing - Pair Work
In this engaging adverbs of manner game, students guess how their classmates do everyday activities. Students begin by completing sentences...
Name Someone Who...
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Naming, Asking and Answering Questions, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this free adverbs of manner game, students name people who perform activities in a particular manner. In groups, students take it in turns to pick up a card...
Say It Correctly!
ESL Adverbs of Manner Activity - Vocabulary: Crossword, Writing Sentences, Miming, Guessing - Group and Pair Work
In this creative adverbs of manner activity, students complete a crossword by listening to incomplete sentences and guessing the missing adverbs of manner. First, in two groups, students create...
Sentence Surplus
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Grammar, Vocabulary and Writing: Writing Sentences - Group Work
Here is an imaginative adverbs of manner game for students to play in class. Write a phrase on the board, e.g. 'She was speaking...' The teams then get three minutes to write as many sentences...
Four in a Row
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Forming Sentences - Pair Work
In this creative adverbs of manner game, students play Connect 4 by associating verbs with adverbs of manner and making sentences with the words. Students take it in turns to choose an adverb of...
How would you...?
ESL Adverb of Manner Games - Vocabulary and Grammar: Matching, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group Work
Here are two fun adverbs of manner games to help students practice manner adverbs. In groups, students begin by playing a pelmanism game to practice...
It's something I do...
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Asking Questions, Guessing - Pair Work
In this entertaining adverbs of manner guessing game, students practice manner adverbs by guessing how a partner does different things. In pairs, students take it in turns to pick up a card...
Tell me about...
ESL Adverbs of Manner Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Discussion, Freer Practice - Group Work
In this free adverbs of manner speaking activity, students discuss various topics using manner adverbs. One student goes first and picks up the top card from...
Advanced Adverbs
ESL Adverbs of Manner Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorising, Gap-fill, Forming Collocations, Writing Sentences
This insightful adverbs of manner worksheet helps students learn and practice some advanced manner adverbs. To start, students match sentences containing...
How do I do it?
ESL Adverbs of Manner Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Miming, Guessing, Forming Sentences - Group Work
In this amusing adverbs of manner game, students mime activities in the manner shown on cards for other students to guess. A student from Team A comes to the front of the class and picks up an...
Level Up
ESL Adverbs of Manner Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Matching, Forming Sentences - Group Work
In this challenging adverbs of manner board game, students make adverb-verb collocations and then use the collocations in sentences. Write thirty-four adverbs from the game on the board in a...
Manner Matters
ESL Adverbs of Manner Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled and Freer Practice - Group and Pair Work
In this productive adverbs of manner speaking activity, students complete, ask and answer conversation questions that contain manner adverbs. First, in two groups...
Understanding Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner describe how an action happens. They typically sit after the main verb or the object, as in 'She spoke quietly' or 'He finished the task quickly.' When students use an adjective where a manner adverb belongs, writing 'She sang beautiful' instead of 'She sang beautifully,' their sentences sound grammatically incomplete and undermine the impression of fluency they are trying to create.
This page covers adverbs of manner across Elementary (A1-A2), Pre-intermediate (A2), Intermediate (B1), and Upper-intermediate (B2) levels, with 17 resources spanning battleship games, board games, miming games, speaking activities, and worksheets, including three free downloads.
The table below shows how adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives, covering the main spelling patterns and the most common irregular forms.
| Adjective Type | Formation Rule | Adjective Example | Adverb Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most adjectives | Add -ly | 'quiet' | 'quietly' |
| Adjectives ending in -y | Change -y to -ily | 'easy' | 'easily' |
| Adjectives ending in -le | Change -le to -ly | 'gentle' | 'gently' |
| Adjectives ending in -ic | Add -ally | 'dramatic' | 'dramatically' |
| Irregular forms | No fixed rule; must be learned | 'good' | 'well' |
| Same form as adjective | No change | 'fast' / 'hard' / 'late' | 'fast' / 'hard' / 'late' |
When to Use Adverbs of Manner
Adding Precision to Narrative: A manner adverb tells the reader not just what happened but how it happened, turning a flat statement into a vivid one. In storytelling and descriptive writing, the difference between 'He walked away' and 'He walked away slowly' is the difference between a closed door and an open one, as in 'She closed the door quietly and sat down alone.'
Signaling Emotion Indirectly: Speakers use manner adverbs to communicate how they feel about an action without spelling it out directly, letting the adverb carry the emotional weight, as when someone says 'She answered the question carefully' to suggest hesitation without naming it.
Giving Clear Instructions: Manner adverbs make instructions unambiguous in practical or professional situations where the quality of the action matters as much as the action itself, as in 'Mix the ingredients gently' or 'Speak clearly into the microphone.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Adverbs of Manner
1. Establish the Form Before Anything Else: Start with the building rules such as how adjectives become adverbs, what the irregular forms look like, and where common errors hide. A worksheet that moves students through conversion tasks and then asks them to find the mistake in each sentence and rewrite it, correcting the mistake, is ideal here because error correction forces students to apply the rules rather than just recognize them.
2. Get Students Producing with a Scoring Game: Once the form is secure, push students into production with a guessing game built around real personal language. The hook is the prompt 'It's something I do...' followed by the manner adverb, which gives a partner just enough information to go on without giving the activity away. The scoring rewards quick thinking: if a partner asks the right question the first time, they score five points, dropping by one point on each subsequent guess, so early accuracy pays off.
3. Stretch Vocabulary with Collocation Work: At the upper levels, the challenge shifts from forming adverbs correctly to choosing them with precision. A board game format drives this well: players land on a square, choose an adverb from a pool written on the board that they think collocates with the verb on the square, and then use the adverb-verb collocation in a sentence. Students who cannot make a collocation, make a grammar mistake, or cannot think of a suitable sentence go back two squares, keeping the standard high throughout.
Common Mistakes with Adverbs of Manner
Adverb Placed Between Verb and Object: Students often insert a manner adverb between the verb and its direct object rather than placing it after the object. Wrong: 'She speaks fluently English.' Correct: 'She speaks English fluently.'
Using 'Good' Instead of 'Well': Students often use 'good' as a manner adverb because they transfer the adjective directly, not recognizing that 'well' is the correct irregular adverb form. Wrong: 'He plays the guitar good.' Correct: 'He plays the guitar well.'
Common Questions About Teaching Adverbs of Manner
What is a fun adverbs of manner game?
The free game Battle it out runs on a battleship grid where students uncover hidden adverbs of manner letter by letter. Once a student reveals a full adverb, they must use it correctly in a sentence to sink the ship. If the sentence is wrong, the ship stays afloat, so every adverb the students learn gets tested in production.
What is a good adverbs of manner worksheet?
The worksheet Advanced Adverbs takes students beyond basic formation into synonym matching, antonym matching, gap-fill, and collocation work. Students match adverbs of manner with verbs that collocate naturally, then choose four of their verb-adverb collocations and use them to write their own sentences, making it a strong choice for higher-level vocabulary practice.
What is an effective speaking activity for adverbs of manner?
In the free activity Tell me about..., one student puts a question card to the group. The others answer using the adverb of manner on the card, giving as much detail as possible and asking follow-up questions. The student who asked notes the answers on the card, then the next student takes a turn.
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