Learn About Flat Adverbs Quick

 

Here's an e-mail I got recently from a guy who runs a car service: "I've been telling our chauffeurs to always 'drive safely,' while others tell them to 'drive safe.'  As an instinctive grammarian, I feel comfortable saying 'safely,' but am I right?"

It's a good question, with no good answer. Yes, "safely" is the syntactically correct choice and undeniably more proper. "Drive safely" uses an adverb because it's actually modifying an action -- describing *how* the driving is to be done.

However, I told Gary, there exist things call "flat adverbs" -- adverbs without the ly tail -- that are also acceptable. And, as often as not, these are words we usually think of as adjective forms: drive slow, think quick, shine bright, hold me close, and others simply choose the form without the "ly" and use it in the place of an "ly" adverb.

It's an established practice in English, going way back to Shakespeare days, meaning that "drive safe" is in fact a safe way to go. On the other hand, because so many people think it's an error, it may not be worth the grief.

 

 

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