Adverb of Manner Games, Activities, Lesson Plans & Worksheets

An adverb of manner is a kind of adverb that describes how something happens or is done. Keep on reading to find out more about the rules, along with some of the top games and activities, worksheets and lesson plans. It’s everything manner adverbs!

What is an Adverb of Manner?

An adverb of manner (also known as a manner adverb) tells us how something happened. You can often find them after the main verb (She walked slowly) or after the object (She played the piano beautifully), although other situations are possible.

An adverb of manner can make writing more interesting, and can also catch the ear of the listener. Here are some rules:

• For a regular one, add ly to the ending of an adjective (slowly, carefully).
• For adjectives that end in “y,” change the “y” to an “i” and add “ly.” For example, happily.
• There are also some irregular adverbs without rules (well, hard, fast, high)

Here’s another common kind of adverb. Have a look here for some of the top ideas: Adverbs of Frequency Activities.

Adverb of Manner ESL Activities

Let’s get into the best adverb of manner exercises.

#1: Manner Adverbs Vocabulary Auction

I love to help my students build good sentences in English! This game is one of the most fun ways to do that. It does take a bit of preparation but it’s totally worth it.

Write out a bunch of sentences that contain a manner adverb. Then, cut them up into individual words.

In teams, students have to bid on words that they think will help them make sentences. After the auction time, there is a trading round. Finally, students make as many good sentences (correct in both form and meaning) as they can. The winner is the team with the most sentences. Check it out:

TEFL Vocab Auction.

#2: Adverb of Manner Board Game

I love to play board games in real life, which is why I like to use them in my classes as well! It’s easier than you might think to make your own game.

Fill up the board with questions that lead to manner adverb sentences. For example:

• Do you have any teachers who talk too quickly?
• How well do you play tennis?
• Do you eat slowly?

Find out more about making your own games here:

ESL Board Games.

#3: Dialogue Substitution

If you’re teaching adverbs of manner from an ESL/EFL textbook, there is likely a dialogue to introduce it. But, have you ever noticed that students often blow through it, not really paying attention to what they read?

A nice way to combat this is to remove some of the key words. In this instance, the manner adverbs. Then, it changes from a simple reading activity into one that is more focused on meaning. Find out more here:

Dialogue Substitution Activity.

#4: Adverb of Manner Dictogloss

This is a challenging listening activity for higher-level learners. Find, or write a passage that contains numerous instances of the target language.

Then, put students into pairs and read it out quickly. Students have to take notes and compare them with their partners. The goal is to recreate what they just heard. Repeat the process and then students check to see how close they got to the original version. Find out more:

ESL Dictogloss Activity.

#5: Just One Question

This is a nice survey-style activity that gets students asking their classmates a single question that results in a manner of adverb answer. Some interesting questions they could ask are:

• What is something that you do quickly?
• What is something that you can do easily?
• Do you prefer eating quickly or slowly?
• What is a favour that you’ve gladly done for someone?

Then, students compile their results and give a brief report to the class. Check it out:

Just One Question.

#6: Adverbs of Manner ESL Speaking Lesson

It’s easier than you might think to plan an ESL speaking lesson about almost anything, including this topic. Have a look here at the simple steps you can follow:

#7: Adverbs of Manner Running Dictation

This is one of my favourite 4-skills TEFL activities for slightly higher-level learners. Find, or write a conversating containing numerous instances of the target grammar or vocabulary.

Then, students have to work together to dictate the conversation. Once they’re done, they have to put it into the correct order. It’s fun, challenging, and very student-centred. Find out all the details:

ESL Running Dictation Activity.

#8: Manner Adverb Charades

Charades is a nice way to review manner adverbs! Students have to act out things like:

• walking slowly
• eating quickly
• painting beautifully
• laughing loudly

Then, their teammates have to guess the phrase. The team with the most points after a certain number of rounds is the winner.

#9: Picture Prompt

Picture prompt is a simple activity as a nice warm-up. Put a picture up on the PowerPoint that shows people doing things. Ask students what they see and then reframe the statement using a manner adverb. For example:

• A man is running. (How fast?) Slowly. (A man is running slowly)
• Someone is eating a sandwich. (Do you think he’s eating quietly or noisily?). Quietly. (The man is eating a sandwich quietly).

#10: Error Correction Relay Race

There are some tricky grammar rules when it comes to using an adverb of manner in a sentence. This is a nice activity to focus on forms:

#11: Adverbs of Manner Conversation Starters

If you tell students to have a conversation with a partner using manner adverbs, you may have silence! There just isn’t enough information or help for most students to do that.

Instead, give some conversation starters or questions for students to refer to if they get stuck. For example:

• How fast do you eat?
• Do you sing well?
• Have you ever met someone who talks too loudly?
• Do you work hard at studying?

#12: English Central or YouTube Videos

I sometimes think that my students must get tired of hearing me talk! That’s why I like to let other teachers do the heavy lifting sometimes.

Take a look on English Central or YouTube for something like “adverbs of manner ESL” and you’ll find a ton of great explanation videos. There are also lots of videos with real-life uses of them. Both of these things can be used effectively in a lesson plan.

#13: Puzzle Finder

This is a nice activity for beginners. On matching puzzle pieces, write a verb and then a manner adverb. For example:

• walk-slowly
• shout-angrily
• plays soccer-badly
• speaks-calmly
• listened-closely
• answered the question-correctly

Students have to circulate around the class to find their matches. Once that’s done, they can say their verb/adverb of manner.

#14: Flyswatter

This is a fun activity that students of all ages love! Write down a bunch of adverbs of manner on the whiteboard in a random fashion. Then, one student from each team comes up to the whiteboard and takes a flyswatter. The teacher says a verb (walk) and then the first student to slap an appropriate adverb (slowly) has a chance to make a sentence (My brother walks slowly). Continue until everyone has had a chance to play.

#15: Adverb of Manner Typhoon Review Game

Try out this fun game to review manner adverbs, or just about anything for that matter! It’s fun, engaging, and ideal for getting students to answer questions that would lead to them using the target vocabulary. Find out more details:

Typhoon ESL Review Game.

#16: Rocks-Scissor-Paper for Adverbs of Manner

This is a nice activity that gets students out of their seats and moving around the classroom. Make up a bunch of slips of paper with verbs and then manner adverbs.

Give each student a few of them and they have to circulate around the class, finding something that could fit. For example, “plays soccer-closely” isn’t a good match. However, “plays soccer-well” is.

Once they find a match, the two students can do rocks-scissor-paper. The winner takes both slips of paper and gets a point.

#17: Manner Adverbs TEFL Reading Lesson

It’s easy to plan your own TEFL reading lesson for almost anything, including adverbs of manner. Have a look here for the steps to follow:

#18: Use the Test-Teach-Test Approach

Unless students are beginners, it’s likely they already know a fair bit about using adverbs in their writing or speaking. If that’s the case, consider using this approach.

Give students a small “test” on manner adverbs and see what they know and don’t know. Then, tailor the teaching part of the lesson to what students are struggling with. After that, they can do some practice and a “test” to see what they have learned. Check it out:

Test Teach Test Language Teaching Approach.

#19: Sentence Structure Adverbs of Manner Activities

Adverbs of manner can be a little bit tricky because they can appear at various points in a sentence. That’s why I like to do some activities to help my students build good sentences using them. Here are some of the top options:

ESL Sentence Structure Activities.

#20: Dictation

Dictation is a bit of an old-school activity but it does certainly have value still! Say some questions or answers that use a manner adverb. Students have to write it down, using the correct spelling and punctuation. Then, they have to to the corresponding statement or question. Check it out:

#21: Use TPR

A nice way to teach these words is to have students perform the action. This is known as TPR (total physical response). The teacher can say phrases or sentences such as:

• Brush your teeth carefully.
• Walk slowly.
• Line up quickly.

The students have to perform the actions in the appropriate fashion. Find out more details about it:

TPR Total Physical Response.

#22: Adverb Picture Cards

Show pictures depicting different actions and adverbs of manner. Students must match the adverbs to the actions they see in the pictures and create sentences.

#23: Adverb Tic-Tac-Toe

Create a tic-tac-toe board with actions in the squares. Students play in pairs and must use adverbs of manner to describe how they would perform the actions to win a square.

#24: Adverb Story Chain

Start a story with an action (e.g., “She walked to the store”). Each student adds an adverb of manner to the sentence and continues the story.

#25: Adverb Dominoes

Create sets of domino cards with actions on one side and corresponding adverbs of manner on the other. Students must match the action with the appropriate adverb.

#26: Adverb Word Search

Provide students with a word search puzzle containing adverbs of manner. They must find the adverbs and use them in sentences once they’ve located them.

#27: Adverb Scavenger Hunt

Hide adverb cards around the classroom. Students search for the cards, read the adverbs, and then use them in sentences or role-plays.

Adverbs of Manner FAQs

There are a number of questions that people have about using and teaching manner adverbs. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

What is an adverb of manner with examples?

An adverb of manner describes how something is done. For example, walks slowly, drives carefully, or talks too loudly.

Where do adverbs of manner go in a sentence?

Adverbs of manner generally go after the main verb but you can sometimes find them before the main verb or after the object.

How do you teach adverbs of manner ESL?

To teach adverbs of manner to ESL students, first set the context. Then, introduce manner adverbs and tell students about the forms and where to find them in a sentence. After that, give students an opportunity to practice them.

How do you teach adverbs of manner in a fun way?

To teach adverbs of manner in a fun way, be sure to use some ESL games and activities such as charades, running dictation, board games or a vocabulary auction.

Manner Adverb Worksheets

Here are some of the top sources for adverb of manner ESL worksheets:

English Worksheets

ISL Collective

Adverb of Manner TEFL Lesson Plans

I love to save time whenever possible and using lessons that other teachers have created is one of the best ways to do that. Here are some of the top recommendations:

ESL Brains

Lingua House

Online Practice for Adverbs of Manner

My students always ask me where they can get some more practice with English! Here are some of the top recommendations for manner adverbs:

English Club

EC English

Test English 

Need More Ideas for Teaching English?

The key to better TEFL classes is a wide variety of student-centred and engaging activities. 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Grammar Activities will help you get there in style. The best part is that you’ll save a ton of time on lesson planning because you’ll have all these great activities at your fingertips.

Pick up a copy of the book today and get ready for better English classes tomorrow:

Manner Adverbs: Join the Conversation

Do you have any games, activities or teaching tips that you’d like to add to our list? Please leave a comment below and let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

Last update on 2025-04-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API