Russian Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe actions and answer the questions Как? and Каким образом? (How?) Consider the following examples:

Все внимательно слушали.
(Everyone was listening carefully.)

Она быстро бегает.
(She runs fast.)

Russian adverbs of manner are formed from adjectives with the help of:

the suffix -o
хороший -> хорошо
the prefix по- and the suffix -и
немецкий -> по-немецки
the prefix по- and the suffixes -ому, -ему
добрый -> по-доброму
хороший -> по-хорошему

Just like adjectives, adverbs of manner have degrees of comparison. The degrees of comparison for adverbs of manner are similar to those for adjectives. However, the difference is that adverbs of manner refer to a verb while adjectives refer to a noun. The following examples will crack the code on this distinction.

Он хорошо плавает, но я плаваю лучше.
(He swims well, but I swim better.)

Note: The adverbs хорошо and лучше refer to the verb плавает, and answer the adverb question Как? (How?)

Вчера была хорошая погода, но сегодня лучше.
(The weather was nice yesterday, but it is better today.)

Note: The adjective хорошая and лучше refer to the noun погода, and answer the adjective questions Какая? Какова? (What?)

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