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| Oxford Dictionaries |
Some adverbs have two forms, one with and one without -ly. Sometimes the two meanings are connected and sometimes they are not.
easy/easily
1. Relax! Take it easy! [calm; free from worry]
Real Madrid won the match easily. [not difficult]
late/lately
2. We hate it when you arrive late. [arriving after the planned, expected time]
Have you been doing anything useful lately? [recently]
hard/hardly
3. He's been working very hard all his life. [using a lot of physical or mental effort]
I hardly ever go to concerts. [almost never]
wrong/wrongly
4. You're definitely doing it wrong. [in a way that is not correct]
She spelled her own name wrongly. [not correctly]
sure/surely
5. Can you lend me your book? Sure. [certainly]
Surely you don't expect me to say that? [used to express surprise that something has happened or is going to happen]
most/mostly
6. What do you like most about her? [more than anything else]
I think that those kids are mostly orphans. [mainly]
free/freely
7. For the first time in years he could move freely. [without being limited or controlled]
The prisoner walked free after seventeen years in jail. [not limited]
wide/widely
8. I was wide awake last night. [completely]
She has travelled widely in Europe, Asia and Africa. [including a lot of different places]
high/highly
9. We were flying high over the ocean. [at or to a large distance from the ground]
I think very highly of Andrew and his wife. [have a good opinion of someone/above average]
In which examples does the meaning alter significantly?
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