adjectives - "More loudly" vs "louder". Correct usage


What is the correct usage of the adjective "loud"?



  1. Please sing louder

  2. Please sing more loudly


I came across this in one of the quizzes at office, and as per them, the correct answer was option 2. I really don't get what's wrong with option 1.



Answer



They are both well-formed and idiomatic sentences. Whoever insisted on that quiz answer alone is trying to specify a very particular standard, where modifiers of verbs must outwardly look like an adverb (using '-ly'). But that is not the case as 'louder' works as an adverb, too.


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