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B) ever, hardly ever, never, rarely, scarcely ever, seldom

A Adverbs in both the above groups are normally placed:

1 After the simple tenses of to be:

He is always in time for meals.

2 Before the simple tenses of all other verbs:

They sometimes stay up all night.

3 With compound tenses, they are placed after the first auxiliary, or, with interrogative verbs, after auxiliary + subject: He can never understand. You have often been told not to do that. Have you ever ridden a camel? Exceptions

(a) used to and have toprefer the adverb in front of them:

You hardly ever have to remind him; he always remembers.

(b) Frequency adverbs are often placed before auxiliaries when these are used alone, in additions to remarks or in answers to questions:

Can you park your car near the shops? ~ Yes, I usually can.

I know I should take exercise, but I never do. and when, in a compound verb, the auxiliary is stressed:

/ never can remember. She hardly ever \has met him. Similarly when dois added for emphasis:

/ always do arrive in time!

But emphasis can also be given by stressing the frequency adverb and leaving it in its usual position after the auxiliary:

You should always check your oil before starting.

B Adverbs in group (a) above can also be put at the beginning or end of a sentence or clause. Exceptions

alwaysis rarely found at the beginning of a sentence/clause except with imperatives.

often,if put at the end, normally requires very or quite:Often he walked. He walked quite often.

C Adverbs in group (b) above, hardly ever, never, rarelyetc. (but not everalone), can also be put at the beginning of a sentence, but inversion of the following main verb then becomes necessary: Hardly/Scarcely ever did they manage to meet unobserved. (For hardly, barely, scarcely,see 44.)

hardly/scarcely ever, never, rarely and seldomare not used with negative verbs.

D never, ever

neveris chiefly used with an affirmative verb, never with a negative. It normally means 'at no time':

He never saw her again. I've never eaten snails.

They never eat meat, (habit)

I've never had a better flight. (For never+ comparative, see 21 C.) never+ affirmative can sometimes replace an ordinary negative:

I waited but he never turned up. (He didn't turn up.) never+ interrogative can be used to express the speaker's surprise at the non-performance of an action:

Has he never been to Japan? I'm surprised, because his wife is

Japanese.

evermeans 'at any time' and is chiefly used in the interrogative: Has he ever marched in a demonstration? ~ No, he never has.

evercan be used with a negative verb and, especially with compound

tenses, can often replace never+ affirmative: I haven't ever eaten snails.

This use of everis less common with simple tenses.

ever+ affirmative is possible in comparisons (see 21 C) and with

suppositions and expressions of doubt:

/ don't suppose he ever writes to his mother.

(For hardly/scarcely + ever,see A-C above. For everafter how

etc., see 61, 85.)

39 Order of adverbs and adverb phrases of manner, place and time when they occur in the same sentence



Expressions of manner usually precede expressions of place:

He climbed awkwardly out of the window.

He 'd study happily anywhere. But away, back, down, forward, home, in, off, on, out, round

and up usually precede adverbs of manner:

He walked away sadly. She looked back anxiously.

They went home quietly. They rode on confidently. (See also 36 E.)

here and theredo the same except with the adverbs hard, well, badly:He stood there silently but They work harder here. Time expressions can follow expressions of manner and place:

They worked hard in the garden today.

He lived there happily for a year. But they can also be in front position:

Every day he queued patiently at the bus stop.

40 Sentence adverbs

These modify the whole sentence/clause and normally express the speaker's/narrator's opinion.

A Adverbs expressing degrees of certainty

(a) actually (= in fact/really), apparently, certainly, clearly, evidently, obviously, presumably, probably, undoubtedly

(b) definitely

(c) perhaps, possibly, surely

Adverbs in group (a) above can be placed after be:

He is obviously intelligent. before simple tenses of other verbs:

They certainly work hard. He actually lives next door. after the first auxiliary in a compound verb:

They have presumably sold their house.

at the beginning or at the end of a sentence or clause:

Apparently he knew the town well.

He knew the town well apparently.

definitelycan be used in the above positions but is less usual at the beginning of a sentence.

perhaps and possiblyare chiefly used in front position, though the end position is possible.

surelyis normally placed at the beginning or end, though it can also be next to the verb. It is used chiefly in questions:

Surely you could pay £1? You could pay £1, surely? Note that though the adjectives sure and certainmean more or less the same, the adverbs differ in meaning. certainly = definitely:

He was certainly there; there is no doubt about it. But surelyindicates that the speaker is not quite sure that the statement which follows is true. He thinks it is, but wants reassurance.

Surely he was there? (I feel almost sure that he was.)

B Other sentence adverbs

admittedly, (un)fortunately, frankly, honestly*, (un)luckily, naturally*, officially*etc. are usually in the front position though the end position is possible. They are normally separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. Starred adverbs can also be adverbs of manner.

Honestly, Tom didn't get the money. (Sentence adverb, honestly

here means 'truthfully'. The speaker is assuring us that Tom didn't

get the money.)

Tom didn 't get the money honestly (adverb of manner) = Tom got

the money dishonestly.

41 Adverbs of degree

absolutely, almost, barely, completely, enough, entirely, extremely, fairly, far, hardly, just, much, nearly, only, quite, rather, really, scarcely, so, too, veryetc. (For (a) little,see 5 D; for fairly and rather,see 42; for hardly, scarcely, barely,see 44; for quite,see 43.)

A An adverb of degree modifies an adjective or another adverb. It is placed before the adjective or adverb:

You are absolutely right. I'm almost ready. But enoughfollows its adjective or adverb:

The box isn 't big enough.

He didn't work quickly enough. (See also 252 B.)

B far requires a comparative, or too + positive:

It is far better to say nothing. He drives far too fast. muchcould replace far here. It can also be used with a superlative: This solution is much the best.

C The following adverbs of degree can also modify verbs:

almost, barely, enough, hardly, just, (a) little, much, nearly, quite, rather, really and scarcely.All except muchare then placed before the main verb, like adverbs of frequency (see 38). He almost/nearly fell. I am just going. Tom didn 't like it much but I really enjoyed it. (For much,see 33. For (a) little, see 5 D.)

D only can also modify verbs. In theory it is placed next to the word to which it applies, preceding verbs, adjectives and adverbs and preceding or following nouns and pronouns:

(a) He had only six apples, (not more than six)

(b) He only lent the car. (He didn't give it.)

(c) He lent the car to me only, (not to anyone else)

(d) / believe only half of what he said.

But in spoken English people usually put it before the verb, obtaining the required meaning by stressing the word to which the onlyapplies:

He only had six apples is the same as (a) above.

He only lent the car to me is the same as (c) above.

/ only believe half etc. is the same as (d) above.

E just, like only,should precede the word it qualifies:

/'// buy just one. I had just enough money. It can also be placed immediately before the verb:

/'// just buy one. I just had enough money. But sometimes this change of order would change the meaning:

Just sign here means This is all you have to do.

Sign just here means Sign in this particular spot.


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1350


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