An adverb is a word that modifies an adjective, adverb, preposition, phrase, or sentence, expressing some relation of place, time, circumstance, causality, manner, or degree.
2
votes
2answers
29 views
What is the word for a slime monster's movement?
A slime monster like The Blob makes what movement? Slither is too snake like. I've thought of words like "gloop" and "drip", but it doesn't convey movement.
-1
votes
2answers
43 views
“I only have discovered today” vs. “I only today have discovered” vs. “I have only today discovered”
Since I am not a native English speaker it's hard to find anything related to this topic on google.
Which of the following word orders is grammatical?
I only have discovered today we have a ...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
Combining “only” with a second modifier
I would like to know which of the following phrases are grammatical.
administrative-only data
administrative only data
only-administrative data
only administrative data
-2
votes
3answers
36 views
“Previously” vs. “last time”
What is the difference between the following two sentences?
This is the vendor from which the item was purchased the last time.
This is the vendor from which the item was purchased ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
“Feeling well” adverb ambiguity
Am I just crazy, or is there some ambiguity in the phrase "feeling well"?
Example:
Billy has a genetic defect that causes him to lose sensation in his fingertips every few days, or so. "How are you ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
For ever and forever [closed]
What is the difference between the meaning and usage of for ever and forever in British English? From what I could gather from my online research,
forever means :
(also for ever) for all ...
0
votes
0answers
38 views
Is it right to use comma before “here”?
Members of parliament can criticize other members, here.
Note the comma after members and before here.
In this particular case, is it okay? Or should the comma not be there?
3
votes
3answers
299 views
Elision in the pronunciation of “probably”
A student of mine has pointed out that in casual speech, my tendency is to pronounce the word "probably" as something like prah-lee.
I am a native speaker of American English without a specific ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
Pronunciation of “again”
What is the Standard British English1 pronunciation of "again"? I looked in Wiktionary and it gives two UK pronunciations, /əˈɡeɪn/, and /əˈɡɛn/.
1 I mean Standard British English as in the tag ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views
Is downtown an adverb of place? [duplicate]
What is the explanation for why we say "I'm going downtown" instead of "I'm going to downtown?"
1
vote
1answer
84 views
Part of speech: “I am disappointed with”
In a construction such as, "John is disappointed with Alice", what part of speech is disappointed with? It appears to me that the "am" is a linking verb.
Similarly, "Jessica is sad", it seems to me ...
0
votes
1answer
71 views
Which syllable is stressed in word “comparatively” in British usage?
British syllable emphasis on "comparatively"?
1
vote
1answer
70 views
“Firstly, secondly” vs. “Firstly, lastly” when listing just two points
Normally, if we which to illustrate our points, we can use firstly, secondly, lastly (or last but not least or finally).
There are a few pieces of information we need to notice:
Firstly,
...
1
vote
2answers
86 views
'Statistically significant associated to' — [Adv + Adj] as Adv?
Is 'XXX is statistically significant associated to YYY.' grammatically correct ? One of my friends says this is seen in many papers with statistics.
Shouldn't it be '... statistically significantly ...
1
vote
1answer
92 views
“Sent” vs “sent off” vs “sent out”
When do we use one over another?
I sent a letter.
I sent off a letter.
I sent out a letter.
Here I found a similar topic but I am still confused.
sent = sent to one or more people
...
0
votes
1answer
50 views
Can “above” be used as an adjective? [duplicate]
I've read in some English grammar books that the word above can only act as an adverb. It can never be used as an adjective in any context.
For example:
1) The above example explains it well.
...
1
vote
2answers
50 views
What role does 'in' take in this sentence?
Father: “It may not be exactly the car you want but..” Daughter:
“It’ll be rubbish, some old wreck that I’ll look totally stupid
in.” (BBC, The Archers, 2013-04-26 Friday, 8’55”~9’01”)
Does ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
“The same X” and intransitive verbs
As I have had explained to me at great length, wonder is intransitive.
That's fine, but it can seem to take an object:
Jim: Yesterday I wondered what that mark on the wall was made by
Dave: I ...
3
votes
2answers
43 views
The adverb “away” for continuity or repetitiveness
I would like to ask about the adverbial particle "away" meaning continuity or repetitiveness (i.e. not a location, a distance, a change of position etc.).
When used with some atelic verbs, the ...
1
vote
2answers
124 views
“Talk to you then then”
I am talking to a friend on the phone and the conversation is somewhat incomplete but we decide to hang up. Before hanging up, he says "I'll see you tomorrow". Would it be grammatical to reply,
...
0
votes
3answers
54 views
“Above” or “later” when referencing a range of versions of software
Which is correct when referencing an operating system version "OS X 10.6.x and later" or "OS X 10.6.x and above"?
Bonus points for providing the why.
1
vote
0answers
26 views
Which one is correct, 'I like this more' or 'I like this better'? [duplicate]
I feel that using 'I like this name more' is more correct than 'I like this name better'. Since English is not my mother tongue, I am not sure.
-1
votes
1answer
93 views
“more people becoming increasingly xxx” or “more people increasingly becoming xxx”
I need a bit of guidance regarding the following sentence. Which of the three variants is grammatical?
Are more people becoming increasingly intolerant?
Are more people increasingly becoming ...
0
votes
2answers
84 views
“Sometimes also” or “also sometimes”?
I have a sentence where I think I could use either of these two constructions. They seem very similar in meaning, so I'm not sure which I should prefer. There might be some subtle point of grammar ...
7
votes
6answers
405 views
What is “long” doing in “all (time-period) long”?
What part of speech is long playing the part of in the bold parts of the quotations below?
For one thing, it shows at a glance how much money is on hand for any particular purpose all month long. ...
4
votes
3answers
151 views
Can an adverb be a noun at the same time?
In this sentence:
Ben and Jen went home.
Is home both an adverb and a noun?
1
vote
1answer
81 views
“Ever” vs “Always”
I have read that always is more used in American English, while ever is more used in British English. In this context, which of the following is correct:
This always increasing interest brought. . ...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
Is the noun “well-ordering” grammatical? [closed]
In mathematics, the noun phrase "well-ordering" is used, as in "this ordering is a well-ordering of the set". I think the mathematical meaning has no bearing on my question, which is: is this phrase a ...
5
votes
3answers
167 views
What part of speech does “here” have in “I am here”?
What part of speech does here have in the following sentence?
I am here.
I say that in that sentence, here must be an adverb because:
It modifies the verb am by describing where I am.
Am is a ...
-1
votes
2answers
70 views
Using “meantime” as an adjective
Does it make sense to say:
Please consider this email as a meantime brief report.
If yes, why? and if no, how can it be fixed?
Edit
By the above sentence, I want to say that this email is not ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
Is “in about” grammatical in “I'll reach there in about 5 minutes”?
Is it correct to say "I'll reach there in about 5 minutes?" Is "in about" correct in this sentence?
-1
votes
1answer
103 views
Is the advertising slogan “Clean happy” grammatically incorrect?
I came across this slogan and it just rubs me the wrong way. Is it just me?
1
vote
0answers
124 views
Why does a negative adverbial phrase trigger inversion? [duplicate]
When a negative adverb (or adverbial phrase) is placed at the beginning of a sentence, we exchange the normal placement of subject and verb.
Why is that?
2
votes
4answers
100 views
Proper English for “started shooting anywhere” [closed]
What's the proper word to describe someone shooting anywhere around in order to kill as many as possible:
The terrorists entered the room and started shooting ________, 5 were killed, 1 injured.
5
votes
4answers
249 views
Indian English use of “only”
I am from Bangalore and people here tend use the word only to emphasise something in a sentence. For example:
We are getting that only printed.
What is the proper way to put it?
6
votes
2answers
351 views
Are the words “sillily”, “uglily”, “friendlily”, “livelily”, etc., valid English?
I have wondered about how to make the words silly, ugly, friendly, lively, etc. into adverbs, so I researched in the Internet. I found many different answers, so I tried checking Oxford Dictionaries.
...
1
vote
1answer
256 views
“Yet” at the beginning of a sentence
Can one use "Yet" at the beginning of a sentence as follows?
Yet, he came late.
Is this grammatical?
1
vote
2answers
108 views
Is there any difference between “stoop down” and “stoop”?
According to Longman, they are the same, but I wonder if this is correct or if so, which one is more common.
For example:
Dave stooped down to tie his shoes.
Dave stooped to tie his shoes.
...
0
votes
3answers
264 views
Use of “yet another” in the middle of a sentence
Is the usage of yet another correct in the following sentence?
This sentence might need yet another piece of work for you!
Where can I place yet another in a sentence?
-1
votes
7answers
138 views
Confusing adverbs, “still” and “yet”
Which of these sentences is correct, and why?
It's yet stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.
It's still stopped raining. We will be able to leave soon.
0
votes
2answers
143 views
Adverb placement
Are the sentences below grammatically correct?
1- I didn't support Gheddafi and I WILL NEVER support him.
2- I didn't support Gheddafi and WILL NEVER support him.
3- I didn't support Gheddafi ...
-1
votes
3answers
70 views
“Move slower” vs. “move less”
What is the proper word to fill the blank?
The more cars there are on a given road, the __ the traffic will move.
The answer is slower. But I wonder whether less is incorrect.
0
votes
1answer
205 views
What's it called when you switch the order of two words around?
What's it called when you switch the order of two words around, completely changing their meaning?
For example, simply childish becomes childishly simple.
Or wonderfully sarcastic becomes ...
-1
votes
1answer
83 views
What does “is there any book around …” mean?
Is there any book around which I can read?
What does the above sentence mean?
"Is there any book available in the market which I can read?"
"Is there any book in this room/or nearby which I can ...
2
votes
1answer
116 views
When would I use “once” versus “nonce”?
Looking at the definitions for once and nonce. they appear very similar to me.
Under what circumstances would one or the other be a more appropriate word choice?
1
vote
1answer
75 views
Is this usage of “however” with an adjective correct?
Is the word "however" correctly used in this sentence? If not, how could it be rephrased?
This program, however comprehensive, hasn't been updated for a long time.
Is there a better construct to ...
1
vote
2answers
393 views
Use of a semicolon before and comma after “however”
Several years ago, a previous boss told me to use a semicolon and comma with the word "however". I've always questioned this and would like to know if the following random sentences are using the ...
-4
votes
1answer
43 views
“Match manual” or “match manually”? [closed]
I am not sure about whether to use "match manual" or "match manually". I am not native but I know that the latter is grammatically correct as the word "manual" has to be used as an adverb in this ...
-2
votes
1answer
126 views
Is “regardless” a word I shouldn't use? [closed]
Is it true that "regardless" is a word I shouldn't use because it is obsolete? If it is, what shall I use instead?
2
votes
3answers
319 views
Four-word phrase stress
I'm interested to learn why the following four-word phrases have stress on different words.
"Little Red Riding Hood" (stress is on little and riding)
"Infamous National Rifle Association" ...
