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.
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4answers
169 views
“First off” vs “first”
First off we need to write down a word; second we need...
First we need to write down a word; second we need...
What's the subtle difference between "first off" and "first"?
Moreover, ...
0
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3answers
140 views
“I went to bed hungry” vs. “I went to bed hungrily” [closed]
What is the exact difference between "I went to bed hungry" and "I went to bed hungrily"?
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1answer
253 views
Word to describe things that run after each other [closed]
Is there a word to describe tasks that need to "run one after the other"? My current choice is sequentially, but feel there is a better word.
11
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3answers
6k views
Is it “peek”, “peak” or “pique”?
I have always thought the phrase was "pique my interest" as in: "Her mysterious background piqued my interest".
However, of late, on blogs and social networks, I have seen people using "peek my ...
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3answers
224 views
Do adverbs only describe verbs?
Egypt and Tunisia have both taken steps to form a new government after the overthrow of Mubarak and Ben Ali respectively.
In this context, does respectively describe the steps that have been ...
2
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1answer
185 views
Correct usage of “yet” in the middle of the sentence [closed]
Is the following sentence a correct usage of yet?
I'm someone like you, and yet like no one.
I think it matches the last definition of OAAD, more importantly. But I also think the comma and and ...
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2answers
169 views
Grammaticality of “I have a car, neither does Sara” [closed]
Can we say "I have a red car. Neither does Sara." or must we say "I have a red car but Sara doesn't."?
I have read this on a website and they said that the first sentence is incorrect but I don't ...
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1answer
65 views
“In avoiding failure” vs. “For avoiding failure”?
1: In avoiding failure, we must be careful.
2: For avoiding failure, we must be careful.
What are the subtle differences between the two sentences?
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0answers
27 views
Difference between the two sentences? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Correct position of “only”
I got confused between these two centences:
I answered only four questions in my exam.
I only answered four questions in my exam.
...
1
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3answers
128 views
“I was really thinking” vs. “I really was thinking”
Which one of the following is correct?
I was really thinking to do that.
I really was thinking to do that.
2
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1answer
178 views
Is there a name for misusing a word (e.g., saying “Provincially, yes”)? [closed]
I read a mail in which someone replied to the question "Will he be attending the party?" by saying "Provincially, yes".
Provincial means "of or concerning the regions outside the capital city of a ...
0
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2answers
273 views
“I did it by myself” vs “I did it myself” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Myself vs by myself
"I did it by myself" and "I did it myself"; what's the exact and subtle difference between the two?
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6answers
158 views
Looking for a formal equivalent phrase for the adverb “personally”
Which one is correct: "personal basis" or "individual basis"? I want to use it in a formal letter. I want to say: "I don't know Mr. X on a personal basis (or individual basis) and I have not had an ...
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1answer
166 views
Why does the word “inadvertently” mean “not knowingly”?
The root is advertently. That means “knowingly”. Fair enough. The root of advertently is advertent. That means “attention”. Hmmm … quite close. The root of advertent is advert, which means ...
0
votes
1answer
129 views
“Enables you to quickly and easily identify” vs. “enables you to identify quickly and easily” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Are split infinitives grammatically incorrect, or are they valid constructs?
I'm currently having a bit of a dispute and would appreciate your help please. Which one is ...
3
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5answers
173 views
“Will shortly appear automatically” — what is the correct order of words in this fragment?
I want to say that an answer will appear shortly, and automatically, on the screen. I'm not sure whether the correct sentence is:
The answer will shortly appear automatically.
or maybe:
The ...
4
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2answers
75 views
“The Cry of Jousts of King Richard II” — a problem with translation
I'm trying to translate this text to Polish and everything seems pretty clear to me, apart from the usage of the words "within" and "without". I presume it's some kind of technical vocabulary ...
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1answer
329 views
Most is adjective or adverb, comparative or superlative in the following phrase?
In the following phrase, from the 1971 film "The Devils" by Ken Russell, what is "most"? An adjective or an adverb? And in what form, comparative or superlative?
I conjure thee, most frightful ...
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2answers
119 views
Is it possible to say ' your choice *for* something' when you mean 'your choice *of* something'?
I'm correcting a document and several people that co-wrote it seem to agree that 'my choice for' seems to be synonymous to 'my choice of', in the signification of me having chosen something and ...
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1answer
97 views
Exact meaning of “You are brand new”? [closed]
I run across a phrase of "You are brand new to GitHub" on the web.
What makes me confused is the word "brand"; is it a noun, an adjective or an adverb?
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2answers
108 views
“I need to wash my hands bad[ly]” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“I feel bad for you” versus “I feel badly for you”
I'm terrible at the usage of bad vs. badly. Given the sentence:
I need to wash my hands bad[ly].
Should the ...
15
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3answers
427 views
You don't want to answer this word-placement question, now do you?
Prompted by this question I got to thinking about the placement of the word now.
If it's placed before the comma, it refers to an immediate condition:
You don't want to answer this word-placement ...
3
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1answer
132 views
Positioning “only” in “I have worked with X” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Correct position of “only”
Which of the following sentences are correct?
I have worked with only Mr. X.
I have worked only with Mr. X.
I have only worked with ...
0
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2answers
626 views
Place of an adverb in the passive present perfect progressive
I was wondering where an adverb should (or could) be placed in the passive present perfect progressive in English.
I have been being carefully tickled.
OR
I have been carefully being ...
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4answers
6k views
Is it correct to say “I kindly request you to…”?
Isn't kindness already implied when you say "I request you to..."?
When I say "I humbly request you to...", the word humbly helps me to label the state of my behavior during the request.
On the ...
10
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4answers
346 views
Can a preposition have the form of superlative?
They had almost reached the door when a voice spoke from the chair
nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this.”
I guess nearest is at the place of preposition. Can a preposition ...
3
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3answers
268 views
What does the title “Whose line is it anyway?” mean?
Whose line is it anyway? is a comedy show in which participants are given a theme and they are supposed to come up with an act according to the theme given to them.
According to Oxford Dictionary, ...
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1answer
59 views
Is this adjective or adverbial?
When are you getting the train back to Adelaide?
Is the phrase back to Adelaide an adjective phrase that modifies the train or adverbial to are getting?
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2answers
220 views
In the sentence “My house is down the street”, which word does the adverb “down” modify?
My house is down the street.
Does the adverb down modify is, or street?
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5answers
205 views
“How best to handle” vs. “how to best handle”
Are there rules on the placement of 'best'?
They are deciding how to best handle the matter.
They are deciding how best to handle the matter.
Is one of them wrong?
3
votes
5answers
96 views
Placement of 'Little'
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 'little' as an adverb could mean:
not much; only slightly
Is there a preference among these sentences?
He little helped his ...
2
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2answers
277 views
“Fairly quick” vs. “fairly quickly” [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which is correct: “drive safe” or “drive safely”?
If I were to write a sentence like:
I completed the task fairly quickly.
Is it correct, or would fairly quick be ...
4
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2answers
307 views
Comparative adverbs
"Officially" (or so I believe) English doesn't have comparative adverbs (a single word rather than "more" + an adverb), but faster is in common usage as one, for example:
Do it faster
When ...
3
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1answer
65 views
Is it normal to use ‘the second’ without a preposition in expressing ‘as soon as” or ‘no later than’?
I saw the following sentence in Time magazine’s (December 3) article titled “Betraying physical book: A book lover’s e-dilemma:
“When electronic books first came out, I embraced them ...
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2answers
135 views
Where to place the word “easily”? [closed]
Where should I place the word easily — before or after edit and share your bookmarks?
Do you want to edit and share your bookmarks easily?
or
Do you want to easily edit and share your ...
2
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1answer
122 views
How to say “A has X, and B has X” in a single clause
How can we say
Mike has an apple, and Jane has an apple
in a single clause? Can I say
Both Mike and Jane have an apple
or
Mike and Jane each have an apple?
They sound fine to me but ...
5
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2answers
605 views
“Deliberately” vs. “intentionally” vs. “on purpose”
I wonder if there is any difference between usage of these three:
deliberately
intentionally
on purpose
Are they completely interchangeable? Are they at the same level of formality?
I found some ...
0
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3answers
203 views
Does “more or less” mean “almost”? [closed]
I checked out its meaning on the web and the common one I have found is "speaking imprecisely", but instinctively I thought it would be like "almost", for example:
The task assigned is more or ...
1
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4answers
147 views
What is the adverbial form of “communicational”?
I tried communicationally, but the Free Dictionary doesn’t find it to be a word.
What I am trying to express is that someone is communicationally challenged, basically meaning they can’t communicate ...
4
votes
2answers
270 views
“I have been keeping ignoring you.”
Does this make any sense?
I have been keeping ignoring you.
Besides that it sounds awkward, my Chinese buddy who knows more grammar rules than I care to list said that the phrase is ...
0
votes
2answers
331 views
How should I reply to “Dude, are you there?”
Let's say I am having a telephone conference with rest of the team, and somebody asks me "Dude, are you there?" How should I reply?
Yes, dude, I am there.
or
Yes, I am here?
It is ...
11
votes
5answers
394 views
The use of “real” in the following cases [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Real quick question
If you listen real close...
Can you swing by real quick...
Sentences like the above two are what I often hear in daily life. If I didn't ...
3
votes
2answers
255 views
What is the grammatical function of “never”?
What is the grammatical function of "never" in the following sentence?
You will have to do something you've never done.
Is it an adverb? My father disagrees with this.
In "I have studied" vs. ...
3
votes
2answers
131 views
Is this 'off' also an adverb?
In this example sentence:
He needs more time off duty for relaxation and rest.
the Longman dictionary says that off in the given example is an adverb. If the sentence was:
"He needs more ...
5
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1answer
201 views
Is “best” an adverb?
In the sentence below, is best an adverb? If so, what does it modify, left or are?
We’re best left alone.
2
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3answers
124 views
Can adverbs of high/increasing speed be applied to not doing something?
There was some chat earlier about adverbs. We were trying to demonstrate that maybe is an adverb.
Reg did this deftly by replacing maybe with other adverbs and then a noun, to show that the noun ...
2
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1answer
312 views
“Thus” vs. “Thusly”
I read an article that used "thusly" and was wondering if there is any grammatical credence to it.
The quote:
The issue started when Sokolowski quickly ran out of storage capacity in his 32GB ...
1
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3answers
951 views
'of yet' and 'as of yet'
Can ‘of yet’ be used with the same meaning of ‘as of yet’? For example:
Most importantly, he’s found footprints of dinosaurs that we haven’t found bones of yet.
Does this mean the same thing as ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
Is ‘there’ being treated as an object (noun)? [closed]
The word "there" in this sentence doesn't seem to be necessary. But if it is there, what exactly is it? A noun? An adverb?
See there where the willow bends over the brook.
-1
votes
1answer
112 views
Adverb of “gullible” [closed]
What is the adverb form of gullible? I tried using gullibly but it apparently isn't a word. Is it one of those adjectives that simply don't have an adequate adverb?
