How to Pronounce Adverbs in American English

Many adverbs in English consist of an adjective with the added suffix -ly.  This creates a new syllable, as in 'recent (2 syllables) and 'recently (3 syllables), or com'plete and com'pletely.  The stressed syllable remains the same.  Sometimes we spell this with -ally, as in basically, specifically, and especially. Even though we spell this like /ali/, it is still pronounced the same as -ly.  We only add one syllable.  Basically sounds like basic-ly, not basic- a- ly. 

Remember to use long and short syllables rather than even stress across syllables for these and other multi-syllabic words.

Here are some of the most common adverbs and their pronunciation:

honestly
previously
briefly
strongly
automatically
deeply
definitely
deliberately
hardly
readily
terribly
unfortunately
successfully
suddenly
truly
virtually
obviously
perfectly
physically
totally
gently
hopefully
originally
roughly
significantly
basically
closely
effectively
initially
literally

mainly
merely
equally
greatly
necessarily
personally
rarely
regularly
similarly
carefully
clearly
essentially
possibly
slightly
frequently
fully
mostly
naturally
nearly
occasionally
recently
seriously
completely
ultimately
widely
fairly
primarily
daily
highly
immediately

relatively
slowly
constantly
properly
specifically
extremely
finally
currently
certainly
normally
easily
eventually
exactly
directly
already
probably
quickly
especially
actually
generally
simply
likely
early
really
usually

Practice 1

Practice 2

Practice 3