It is very simple and straightforward to convert adjectives to adverbs in Russian. Adjectives form the roots of the vast majority of adverbs, so if you understand this post you'll be in a great position to use adverbs on the fly with ease.
To note, you can form adverbs from adjectives, nouns, numerals, verbs, pronouns, and adverbs.
To learn more about adverbs, please refer to our main Adverbs page in our Russian Grammar resource section.
In English, the most common way to convert an adjective to an adverb is to just add “-ly:”
In Russian, there are two most common ways to convert adjectives to adverbs.
Adjectives ending in “-ый,” “-ая,” or “-ое:” replace ending with “-о:”
Adjectives ending in “-ский,” “-ская,” or “-ское:” add prefix “по-” and replace ending with “-и:”
Note, this also applies to adjectives ending with "-цки" instead of "-ски."
Not all adjectives can form adverbs.
Just like in English, certain Russian colors do not have adverbial forms. For example:
Some key adverbs add an "-е" to their adjectival root. These are worth remembering.
