as loud / loudly as we could

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

Please tell me which is correct.

  1. We sang as loud as we could.
    OR
  2. We sang as loudly as we could.

To my ear, the first sounds better, but I don’t know why, as it’s an adjective and not an adverb. However, I think I need an adverb here, don’t I?

Thanks.
Liza

2

Hello Liz,
I think the second is correct, cause the example is talking about actions not nouns so we use adjectives (e.g. loud) for nouns and adverbs (e.g. loudly) for verbs.
You can say :
Our singing was as loud as theirs.
We sang as loudly as we could.

Let me know what you think.
Regards
Nola

3

sang loud/noisy songs
sang loudly

4

Hi Liza

Your ear was exactly right in this case. :smiley: Your first sentence is just fine, and I’d say sentence 1 would also be the more commonly used of the two.
The word “loud” is used both as an adjective and as an adverb.
Used as an adverb, the word “loud” simply means “in a loud manner”.

bartleby.com/61/78/L0257800.html
dictionary.cambridge.org/define. … 1+0&dict=A
dictionary.cambridge.org/define. … &dict=CALD
.

5

What is “loud” modifying there?