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Here is a quote from a movie:

  1. Get some answers. Quick.

Why did the speaker use quick, an adjective, instead of quickly, an adverb:

  1. Get some answers. Quickly.

I was told that adverbs depict verbs, so how is he supposed to get some answers? Quickly. Why is it wrong to use an adjective in this case?

No one would ever say:

  1. Come here. Slow.

Then why is the first sentence correct and the third one isn't?

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  • This is an example of the Imperative Mood. Quick is intended to mean now and carries the meaning that the answers were actually needed five minutes ago.
    – lurker
    Dec 28, 2015 at 21:44
  • Quick can be an adverb. Look it up in any dictionary. According to Longman Dictionary, many teachers think this is not correct English.
    – Ghaith Alrestom
    Dec 28, 2015 at 22:35
  • It ia a feature of American English that in colloquial style often the adjective instead of the adverb is used after a verb.
    – rogermue
    Dec 31, 2015 at 6:23

2 Answers 2

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The first sentence is not correct, although you'll quite often hear native speakers using certain adjectives in place of their adverb forms. For example, earlier today, I said to my brother:

Hey, come over here real quick, I found something cool!

What I meant was:

Come here for a moment; I have found something interesting [which I would like you to see].

"Real quick" is faster to say than "really quickly," so it's often used conversationally. (I live in Texas, and "real quick" is used here. I'm not sure about other areas.)

Side note: If I had said "come here really quickly", it would probably have been interpreted literally:

Come here, and move quickly.

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  • Thanks. But this is just one example. Could you generalise it? When can I use an adjective instead of an adverb and when I shouldn't?
    – user2738748
    Dec 28, 2015 at 23:24
  • And another issue: I noticed that in the first sentence you used the past simple tense (found) and in the second one the present perfect tense (have found). Was it because it is faster to use the past simple tense, so you "simplified" it or is there another reason difference in meaning?
    – user2738748
    Dec 28, 2015 at 23:26
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Quick in your example is short hand for

go quickly

and used as an imperative to do something quickly.
It can also be used to attract a person's attention in colloquial AmE

P1: Quick!
P2: What?

It is probably shortened due to common usage, which shortens phrases used over and over again for efficiency reasons.

Your confusion might stem from the fact that quick is not a verb.
The same would be the case for now

Get some answers. Quick.
Get some answers. Now.

But both sentences are easily understood through usage.

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