Rich Language looks at Flat Adverbs

Flat Adverbs

Adverbs that are unchanged from their adjective form are known as "flat" adverbs.

Take the following sentence:

He kicked the ball high. The high ball slammed into the net.

The first use of high is a flat adverb, affecting the verb kicked. The second use of high is as an adjective, affecting the noun ball. To novice English speakers, it may seem more logical to say: He kicked the ball highly. Alas, English is rarely a language of logic!

Other words that are commonly used as flat adverbs include low, early, late, near, far, long, and short. Many idioms also introduce a number of non-standard flat adverbs into everyday use such as in wax lyrical, something rotten, and something awful.

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