As we already know, adjectives describe what something is like, while adverbs tell us how something is done.
This is the most important difference between adjectives and adverbs, so it is very important to know how to distinguish these types of words.
In this text we will talk about adverbs that start with the letter P.
There are really a lot of these adverbs, and we will be focused on the most common ones.
We will explain you their meaning and use, and at the end we will also mention other adverbs that start with the letter P.
The Most Common Adverbs that Start With the Letter P
Pacifically
The first adverb that we will mention is adverb pacifically. This adverb indicates that something has been done in a pacific or peaceful manner.
When we say pacifically, it has always something to do with peace. We have the next example:
“He said pacifically that he didn’t want further conflict.”
Or: “He behaved pacifically in the whole situation and he wanted to prevent any escalation of the conflict between these two countries.”
The most common synonyms of the adverb pacifically are peacefully, calmly, peaceably and mildly.
Pleasantly
If you do something pleasantly, it means that you are doing it in a pleasant way. We can also say that you want to reach some pleasant results with your pleasant behaviour.
You can see the following sentence: “She smiled pleasantly at him and it was an obvious sign that she liked him”.
We can also say: “He was pleasantly surprised by her gesture.”
All these examples can show you how to use adverb pleasantly in the right way.
The most frequent synonyms of adverb pleasantly are charmingly, pleasingly, happily and cheerfully.
Possessively
This is another adverb that starts with the letter P and it means that something was done in a possessive manner. What it means?
First of all, it usually means that there was a lot of love and attention included in doing something.
Also, if you have done something possessively, it means that you don’t allow someone to have his own independence.
You want to have authority and control over a certain person and you behave possessively towards her.
You want to dominate the other person and control her life.
You can see it in the example below:
“He kissed her possessively in front of other people”, which means that he wanted to let everyone know that she was his “property”.
Adverb possessively has another meaning as well.
If something was done possessively, it means that this person doesn’t want to share some things with some other people.
It is usually a selfish person who wants to have everything for himself. Take a look at the example below:
“This chocolate is mine. Don’t take it!”, he said possessively to his brother.
Or: “He possessively kept the whole house and did not want to share it with other family members.”
We hope that you can see clearly now in which contexts we can use adverb possessively.
Some of the most common synonyms of this adverb are: dominatingly, jealously, domineeringly, controllingly, overprotectively, etc.
Partially
When someone is doing something partially, it means that it was not done in a complete way.
Something is not completed, because only a part of that was done.
In this situation we say that something was done partially or partly.
In the next sentences you can see how to use adverb partially: “The weather was partially cloudy” or “She was partially telling the truth.”
Also, we can say: “It was partially my fault.” or “Access to that part of the city was partially prohibited.”
In these example you can recognize adverb partially and its use in everyday speech.
The common synonyms of adverb partially are partly, in part and relatively.
Pessimistically
Adverb pessimistically refers to something that is done in a pessimistic way.
It actually means that someone doesn’t have hope that something will be better in the future.
This person is expecting only bad things and his/her thoughts are always negative.
For such person we say that he/she is pessimistic and everything that he/she is doing, it is usually done pessimistically.
We have a couple of examples that can be helpful:
“He said pessimistically that things would not get better”, which means that he leaves no place for hope that something could change.
“He always thinks pessimistically even though everything is going well in his life”, which means that he is not satisfied with all things that he has in life.
He is always thinking in a negative way and he sees everything in a dark manner.
At the end we are going to give you a couple of synonyms of adverb pessimistically: desperately, darkly, sadly, despairingly or dejectedly.
Professionally
If someone is doing something professionally, it usually means that it is related to someone’s job.
Someone is doing something that is related to his own profession and to his job in general.
For example, we have a sentence “Professionally speaking, your career is already at a good level”, which means that someone is progressing in his career.
If we say professionally, it means that you should think more about your career and also about your future.
Another meaning related to adverb professionally is that someone is doing something very good. Someone has great skills and a lot of experience.
Because of that we usually say that someone is doing something professionally.
We can see it in the next sentence: “He committed murder professionally and it is difficult for the police to catch him.”
There is also another example: “Don’t worry, he is doing all the housework professionally.”
Apart from all those meanings, adverb professionally indicates that someone is doing something as a job for which he/she is paid. Something is not done as a hobby, but it is done as a real job.
In this context we can say: “He played professionally football when he was 20 years old”, which means that he earned money while he was playing football.
Progressively
Doing something progressively means that someone is doing something continuously and steadily.
Also, this adverb can indicate that something is happening gradually over a certain period of time.
It can be referred to stages of someone’s illness as well.
For example, we can say: “His illness progressed progressively and he died in a short time.”
Sometimes adverb progressively can be also associated with politics and reforms, for example:
“The reforms were progressively taking over the state and the situation was getting better in the whole country.”
Synonyms related to adverb progressively are continuously, sequentially, successively, serially, etc.
Other Adverbs That Start With the Letter P
Pacifistically
Painfully
Painlessly
Paganishly
Pallidly
Palpably
Parentally
Paradoxically
Parallelly
Parabolically
Paramountly
Pardonably
Parochially
Particularly
Passionately
Past
Passively
Peacefully
Peculiarly
Pedagogically
Pedestrially
Pejoratively
Penally
Perhaps
Perceptively
Perchance
Peripherrally
Perpetually
Perceptually
Perfectly
Perfectively
Periodically
Personally
Persuasively
Pertinently
Perversely
Pettily
Pharmacologically
Phenomenally
Philosophically
Phonetically
Phonographically
Physically
Psychologically
Playfully
Pleasingly
Pleasurably
Pleonastically
Ploddingly
Pluckily
Plural
Plenty
Poetically
Politely
Pompously
Pontifically
Popularly
Pornographically
Positively
Possibly
Posteriorly
Potently
Potentially
Powerfully
Powerlessly
Pragmatically
Practically
Predictably
Predatorily
Prettily
Pressingly
Presto
Prevalently
Preventively
Pridefully
Primarily
Primitively
Privately
Priorly
Proactively
Prodigally
Profanely
Proficiently
Profoundly
Profitably
Prominently
Promptly
Properly
Proportionally
Prophetically
Protectively
Proudly
Proudly
Proximately
Prudently
Psychologically
Punctually
Pungently
Punishingly
Purely
Puritanically
Purposely
Purposefully
Pyramidally
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