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  • Which one should I use?

    1. Play music loud

    2. Play music loudly

      • I think "play music loudly" is right but "play music loud" is used more. Please tell me your opinion and the reason why you choose it. Thank you so much.

      • Maybe my grammar is wrong 'cause I'm not good at English

Nguyen Ngoc Bich An
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  • "Play loud music", not "play music loud" –  Jul 17 '16 at 15:13
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    @V0ight I searched on Google and saw "play music loud" is right. I heard in the lyrics of Florida's song - My house: "play that music too loud" – Nguyen Ngoc Bich An Jul 17 '16 at 15:30
  • I suppose it is right, my mistake. I still prefer the latter and would use it unconditionally; the former just sounds wrong to my ears. –  Jul 17 '16 at 16:01
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    The reason loudly is the "more correct" option is that you can't use loud as an adverb in all contexts, e.g. "He was loud playing the music as he walked with his radio on his shoulders". It can only be loudly in this specific context. So be careful to understand this as English is a fickle language. –  Jul 17 '16 at 16:07
  • Related question, loud, aloud, loudly?. –  Jul 17 '16 at 16:10
  • Either say, "I played loud music," or, "I played music loudly." In the former, "loud" is an adjective that describes "music." In the latter, "loudly" is an adverb that describes "played." You would not say, "I played music loud." In English, except in very few cases, we do not put an adjective after the noun it is to describe. Whereas adverbs may appear just about anywhere in relation to the verb they describe, adjectives appear immediately before the noun they describe. –  Jul 18 '16 at 01:11

1 Answers1

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Normally, adjectives are turned into adverbs by adding the -ly suffix to them.

But some words are used as both adjectives and adverbs, with no discernable difference in their form. For example,

  1. I like fast cars. [adjective]

  2. He drove fast. [adverb]

  3. They played a clean game. [adjective]

  4. They played clean. [adverb]

"Loud" is an example of a word that can be used as both an adjective and an adverb. For example, people say:

  1. I like loud music. [adjective]
  2. I play music loud. [adverb]

If you look at this google books search, you'll see plenty example of it being used as an adverb. Further, Oxford Dictionaries even lists it as an adverb.

But some people also use the clearly adverbial form "loudly", as in

  1. I play music loudly. [adverb]

In conclusion, both "loud" and "loudly" can be used as adverbs. The choice is yours.

DyingIsFun
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