success, successful, successfully
Word families: noun, verb, adjective, adverb
One word, many forms: a noun (success), a verb (succeed), an adjective (successful) and an adverb (successfully). The gap tells you which one you need.
- Her success surprised everyone.
- She runs a successful business.
- He passed the test successfully.
Like Spanish (éxito, exitoso), English has a family of forms: success, successful, successfully. «Tener éxito» is one word: succeed.
Some nouns have no plural: advice, information, research (some advice, not some advices).
Also on this page: -ful, -less, -able · -tion, -ment, -ness · -ly
Try 6
Six quick questions, easiest first. At the end you'll see which mistake you make.
- Our teacher gave us some very ______ advice about how to organise our study time.helping · helpful · help · helpfully
- Ella plays the piano so ______ that everyone stops to listen.beautiful · beauty · beautifully · beautify
- Our teacher gave us some ______ about how to balance work and leisure.advise · advice · advisory · advices
- My brother is very ______ at weekends; he plays football and goes swimming.active · action · actively · acting
- Choosing a hobby is a personal ______, so nobody can make it for you.decision · decide · decisive · deciding
- Our teacher asked us to ______ on the reading task for ten minutes.concentration · concentrate · concentrating · concentrated
- My brother is very ______, so he spends his free time painting and making models.creation · creatively · creating · creative
- Working in a café is a very ______ occupation for students who want some extra money.popularly · popular · popularise · popularity
- Marco has a good ______ between work and leisure, so he never feels stressed.balances · balance · balancing · balanced
- Maria is ______ of running a marathon because she trains so hard.capable · capabilities · capability · capably
- Having a hobby gives me a feeling of ______ after a long week at work.relaxingly · relaxed · relaxation · relaxing
- Dad and I have so many ______ about music that Mum covers her ears.arguments · argument · arguing · argued
Show the answers
- helpfulnot help: the noun and the adjective mixed upnot helpfully: the adjective and the adverb mixed up
- beautifullynot beautiful: the adjective and the adverb mixed up
- advicenot advise: the verb where you need a noun (or the other way round)not advices: advices, informations
- activenot action: the noun and the adjective mixed upnot actively: the adjective and the adverb mixed up
- decisionnot decide: the verb where you need a noun (or the other way round)not decisive: the noun and the adjective mixed up
- concentratenot concentration: the verb where you need a noun (or the other way round)
- creativenot creation: the noun and the adjective mixed upnot creatively: the adjective and the adverb mixed up
- popularnot popularly: the adjective and the adverb mixed upnot popularity: the noun and the adjective mixed up
- balancenot balanced: the noun and the adjective mixed up
- capablenot capably: the adjective and the adverb mixed upnot capability: the noun and the adjective mixed up
- relaxationnot relaxed: the noun and the adjective mixed up
- argumentsnot argued: the verb where you need a noun (or the other way round)
Common mistakes on this point
Not: She plays the piano beautiful.
Say: She plays the piano beautifully.
An adjective describes a person or thing (a beautiful song); an adverb describes how you do something (she sings beautifully).
See this mistake on its own page ›Not: It was a difficult decide.
Say: It was a difficult decision.
A noun names a thing (a decision, some advice); a verb is what you do (to decide, can advise). In a difficult ______, the gap needs a noun.
See this mistake on its own page ›Not: It was a success business.
Say: It was a successful business.
Before a noun, or after very or so, you usually need an adjective: a successful business, very creative.
See this mistake on its own page ›Not: She gave me some advices.
Say: She gave me some advice.
advice, information and research can't be counted: some advice, a piece of advice.
See this mistake on its own page ›