[Grammar] He never liked to treat his brothers FRIENDLY/IN A FRIENDLY MANNER.

[Sahil Dhankhar]

Disclaimer:-This is not my homework.

He never liked to treat his brothers friendly.

I think that friendly being an adjective should not be used(Am I right with this?).Instead of adjective, adverb "in friendly manner" should be used like this:- He never liked to treat his brothers in a friendly manner.

Please tell me :- Are both the sentences correct and if not then which one is correct? If both are correct, do they have any difference in meaning?

 

[Rover_KE]

You are right: 'in a friendly manner' is the correct way to say it.

Before somebody tells us that in some dictionaries the adverb 'friendlily' is listed ('in a friendly manner'), it is very rarely used and best avoided.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would probably use "in a friendly way" but "in a friendly manner" is equally acceptable. I have used "friendlily" but it sounds awkward and I would normally try to avoid it.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Some dictionaries list "friendly" as an adverb. It seems a bit inefficient to replace an adverb with a four-word phrase. If one doesn't like "friendly" as an adverb, one could use "amicably".