Adverbs
generally modify verbs, though they can also modify adjectives, other adverbs
or whole sentences. Common
examples of adverbs
include easily or very. The following section looks at the use of adverbs in English.
1.1.
Position
of adverbs
When
modifying verbs, adverbs in English can appear in three different positions:
initial, final and central. (For the position of adverbs when modifying
adjectives or other adverbs, see section Sy 6.9.) Most adverbs are restricted
to one or another of these positions, though there are some that have a certain
flexibility. In this section we will study each of these three positions and
give a general idea of which adverbs are so located. However, the proper
placement of adverbs in English is complex, and so we will always include this
position in the individual descriptions of the adverbs throughout the
subsections of Sy 6.
Initial
position
Adverbs in initial
position come before the subject of a sentence or clause and
are sometimes followed by comma.
Almost all the conjunctive adverbs come before the subject, such as at
least and at any rate (com a mínim, si més no),
all the same and
even so (tanmateix,
no obstant això) or now then and that said (ara bé). (See
section Sy 6.8. for a complete list.) This is also true of the adverbs maybe and perhaps (potser) or actually and really when they mean en
efecte, realment, el fet és que, etc. Here are some typical
examples.
Conjunctive adverbs
At least 60% of working
hours must be spent on site each week.
I doubt, therefore I might be.
Now then, that
doesn’t mean that we won’t help you if we can.
Adverbs of doubt or possibility
Maybe I was there and maybe I wasn’t.
“It
must get very cold in Seattle.” “Actually, the climate is quite mild.”
Finally,
though adverbs of manner are normally placed after the verb, many of them can
take initial position if the direct object is somewhat long or complex, or when
one wants to emphasize the adverb.
We quickly gained
over sixty thousand readers and thirty
thousand comments. He easily
won the chess match.
Final position
Adverbs
that come after verbs, or after the objects of those verbs, are considered to
be in final position. Nearly
all adverbs of manner,
such as well and
slowly, are so placed,
as we will see in section
Sy 6.2. Moreover,
final position is most usual
for adverbs of specific time, such
as today and last night, and certain adverbs
of relative time,
such as yet and
early. Finally, adverbs of
place and direction, which, as we shall see in section Sy 6.3., normally
combine with verbs to form so-called phrasal
verbs, always follow the verb they modify. However, in this case (as we saw
in section Sy 5.9.), the object can often follow either the adverb or the
verb. For example, in the sentence I left that part out, the object
follows the verb, but in the
sentence I left out that part, it
follows the adverb.
Here are some typical examples of
adverbs placed in final position.
We speak German well.
They
process, gather and calculate data quickly.
Adverbs of time
I did it yesterday.
We
haven’t finished yet.
Adverbs of place and direction
They’ve gone away.
Important
aspects have been left out.
Central
position
The
rule for placing adverbs in central position is that they go after the
auxiliary and also after the verb be.
However, if there is no auxiliary, which is the case when the verb tense is
simple present or simple past, they come before the verb. Examples:
After the auxiliary or be
We have always admired you.
I’ll
never forget our night together.
There
should never be two headings
in a row. They are
usually here.
Before the verb
I still have your books.
We
almost had an accident.
In the case of negations and
questions, the order is normally the following. Negation: subject + auxiliary +
not + adverb +verb
Question: auxiliary + subject +adverb + verb Examples:
Young people do not frequently play videogames.
Have you ever been in London?
Haven’t they
just got [AmE gotten] here?
Note that the adverb still is exceptional in that it must
precede a contracted negative.
They still haven’t paid me.
The adverbs most frequently found in central
position are those of frequency – eg always
(sempre) and often (sovint), those of
relative time – eg already (ja) and soon (aviat) – and those
of affirmation – eg also (també) and certainly (certament).
1.2.
Adverbs
of manner
The
most common adverbs of manner are those derived from adjectives by adding the
suffix -ly. We have already studied
these morphological changes in section Mo 6.
Adverbs
of manner are usually found in final position, though many of them can precede
the verb if the direct object is somewhat long or complex, or when one wants to
emphasize other elements in the sentence. It should be remembered that in
nearly all cases, it is not correct to put an adverb between a verb and its
direct object. Examples:
He landed the plane safely
or He safely landed
the plane. (Not He landed safely the plane.)
In some
cases, the adverb derived from the adjective has a completely different
meaning. Here is a list of some of the most important adverbs in this class.
|
Adjective |
Adverb |
|
bare
– nu, despullat |
barely
– amb prou feines, a penes |
|
hard
– dur, fort |
hardly
– amb prou feines, a penes |
|
late
– tard |
lately
– últimament |
|
present
– present, actual |
presently
– aviat; correntment |
|
scarce
– escàs |
scarcely
– amb prou feines, a penes |
|
short
– baix, curt |
shortly
– aviat (d’aquí a poc temps) |
Adverbs and
adjectives with the same form
In English, many adjectives and adverbs share
the same form. For
example, fast means both ràpid and ràpidament (eg
a fast car, he runs fast). In some cases, the -ly adverb form also exists, but
it has a different meaning than the simple adverb. For example, consider the
word hard: as an adjective it means either
dur or difícil – eg a hard surface
(una superfície dura), a
hard job (una feina
difícil), as an adverb it means fort or
de valent – eg to work hard (treballar fort), but as an -ly adverb it means amb prou feines – eg he is hardly able to stand (amb prou
feines pot estar-se dret).
Here is a list of the most important
adjectives and adverbs
that share the same form, along
with their -ly meanings, where they exist. An underline indicates that the adverb in question
can also modify adjectives or other adverbs (see section Sy 6.9.).
|
Adjectives and
adverbs with the same form |
||||
|
Adj./adv. |
Meaning of adjective |
Meaning of adverb |
The -ly form |
Meaning of -ly adverb |
|
alone |
sol |
a
soles |
* |
* |
|
clean |
net |
totalment |
cleanly |
netament |
|
dead |
mort |
exactament,
totalment |
* |
* |
|
dear |
estimat |
car |
dearly |
car,
tendrament |
|
dirty |
brut |
brut |
* |
* |
|
easy |
fàcil |
amb
calma |
easily |
fàcilment |
|
fast |
ràpid |
ràpidament,
fermament |
* |
* |
|
fine |
menut,
bo |
bé |
finely |
finament |
|
flat |
pla,
bemoll |
desafinadament (massa greu) |
flatly |
rotundament |
|
hard |
dur,
difícil |
fort |
hardly |
amb
prou feines |
|
Adjectives and
adverbs with the same form |
||||
|
Adj./adv. |
Meaning of adjective |
Meaning of adverb |
The -ly form |
Meaning of -ly adverb |
|
high |
alt |
alt,
enlaire |
highly |
molt,
altament |
|
just |
just,
correcte |
solament,
exactament |
justly |
amb
dret |
|
late |
tard,
endarrerit |
tard |
lately |
últimament |
|
loud |
alt
de volum |
alt
de volum |
loudly |
fort(ament) |
|
low |
baix |
baix |
lowly |
humilment |
|
most |
(el)
més, la majoria de |
més |
mostly |
principalment |
|
pretty |
bonic |
força |
prettily |
amb
gràcia |
|
right |
just,
correcte |
just, exactament, a la dreta,
correctament |
rightly |
degudament |
|
sharp |
esmolat, agut, sostingut |
desafinadament
(massa alt),
en punt |
sharply |
agudament,
asprament |
|
straight |
dret,
recte |
directament, en
línia recta |
* |
* |
|
well |
bo
de salut |
bé |
* |
* |
|
wide |
ample,
gran |
separadament,
del tot |
widely |
extensament |
Examples:
I want to talk to you alone.
Is today your name day?
Sorry, I clean forgot! I was dead sure they wouldn’t
find out.
Buy cheap,
sell dear.
Be careful; they
have a reputation for playing dirty.
Take it easy, there’s no rush.
The little girl sat on her father’s
lap, clinging fast. “How are you?” “Fine, thanks, and you?”.
You’re singing
flat/sharp.
We are working hard to resolve
this problem. Don’t talk so loud.
We need to find solutions that bring these technologies to those who need them most. Though
there are a couple of mistakes, the essay is pretty well done.
They parked
their car right behind mine.
Go straight for three blocks,
turn left, then look for a place to park. He opened the door wide and invited
us in.
Adverbs
of manner not derived from adjectives
There are four important
adverbs of manner that are not derived from adjectives. They can all modify
adjectives and other adverbs (see section Sy 6.9.).
Almost – gairebé, quasi
We’ve almost finished.
I
almost fell in the water.
Just – 1 en aquest mateix moment (acabar de +
infinitiu) 2 solament, sols, només
He has just come in.
He was just telling
us it wasn’t going to rain when we heard
thunder. I was just trying to help!
Only – solament, sols, tan sols, només, únicament
They
only pay local calls. I’ve only seen her twice.
Well
–
bé, ben
He knows the region well.
The
team has played well tonight.
Adverbial
idioms of manner
As is the case in CATALAN,
English has many adverbial idioms that describe how something is done. The
following is a list of some of the most important.
|
at full speed |
half and half |
in public |
|
at intervals |
in a flash |
in secret |
|
at least |
in a hurry |
in silence |
|
at length |
in a moment |
in the same way |
|
at most |
in advance |
in this way |
|
at once |
in cold blood |
in vain |
|
at random |
in confidence |
like this |
|
at short notice |
in detail |
more or less |
|
by chance |
in earnest |
now and then |
|
by choice |
in full |
on and off |
|
by degrees |
in fun |
on and on |
|
by fits and
starts |
in good faith |
on purpose |
|
by hand |
in high spirits |
on the sly |
|
by heart |
in jest |
on the square |
|
for good |
in order |
so |
|
for free |
in part |
|
|
for keeps |
in private |
|
1.3.
Adverbs
of place and direction
The majority of English
adverbs of place or direction combine with verbs to form an entity called, in
English, a phrasal verb or, perhaps more accurately, an adverbial verb. There are no
corresponding verbal constructions in CATALAN
and this fact, combined with various other difficulties discussed in
section Sy 5.9., makes the study of phrasal verbs particularly complex. In this
section, we will limit ourselves to providing a list of these adverbs and a
general description of their
meanings in CATALAN. More information can be found in
the aforementioned section Sy 5.9. and online in the
manual Phrasal Verbs, pas a pas (visca.com/apac/ pv- nsum/).
Adverbs that are
often used to form phrasal verbs
About – 1 aquí,
allà 2 per aquí, per allà, arreu 3 en la direcció contrària
We passed by their house but they weren’t about.
Vam passar per casa seva però no hi eren. We’ve been running
about for hours. Correm arreu
(amunt i avall)
des de fa hores.
When I heard the door
open, I slowly turned about.
En sentir
obrir la porta, m’he girat a poc a poc.
Across – 1 aquí,
allà (travessant una distància curta) 2 a
l’altre costat; d’un costat a l’altre
I’ve just been across to meet our new neighbors.
Acabo d’anar allà (or a
l’altre costat del carrer, or a l’altre pis, etc.) per conèixer els nous
veïns.
The stream is pretty
wide; can you get across?
La
riera és força ampla; la pots travessar?
Along – endavant (continuant en una línia de
moviment)
They went out to dinner and I decided to go along.
Van
sortir a sopar i vaig decidir d’anar-hi també (or ... d’acompanyar-los).
Certain myths are
still maintained that have been dragged along
since antiquity.
Alguns mites
que s’han continuat arrossegant des de l’antiguitat encara es mantenen.
We drove along for hours, enjoying the view.
Anàvem
amb cotxe durant hores, gaudint de la vista.
Apart – a part, separadament
They’re still married, but live apart.
Encara
són casats, però viuen separats.
(A)round – 1 aquí,
allà 2 arreu 3 en la direcció contrària 4 en direcció circular
When I got downstairs, Mercè wasn’t around.
Quan
vaig arribar a baix, la Mercè no hi era.
She reported that a
strange man had been following her around.
Ella va
denunciar que un desconegut l’havia seguit (arreu).
Don’t turn around until we tell you to.
No
et giris fins que t’avisem.
The pigeons circled around and around.
Els coloms
giravoltaven.
Aside
–
a part
He set
his books aside and turned on the TV.
Va apartar els
llibres i va engegar la televisió.
Away
–
1 fora,
lluny 2 cap a un altre lloc
My grandparents are
away.
Els
meus avis són fora.
I’d like to move away, but I’m afraid.
M’agradaria
anar-me’n (a viure) en un altre lloc, però tinc por.
Back – 1 endarrere
2 a un lloc o a una posició original
Take two steps back,
please.
Fes-te
dos passos endarrere, si us plau.
What time did you get back?
A quina hora
vau tornar?
By
–
passant un cert punt en l’espai o en el
temps
They waved to us as we passed by.
Ens han
saludat (amb la mà) quan passàvem.
Down
–
avall, cap avall
Now the elevator is going down.
Ara
l’ascensor baixa (va avall).
In – 1 (cap
a) dins 2 aquí (a casa), allà
He came in
and took off his coat.
Va
entrar i es va treure l’abric.
Is the doctor in?
És
aquí, el metge?
Off – 1 a distància, a un altre lloc 2 fora de lloc, no tocant
3 indicant separació, allunyament o la idea de no sobre
He was only here a
moment, then he hurried off.
Només ha estat
aquí un instant i després se n’ha anat amb pressa.
A button has dropped off.
Ha
saltat un botó.
He was trying to walk
along the fence but fell off.
Intentava de
caminar per sobre de la tanca, però caigué.
On – 1 endavant
2 a sobre 3 subjectat, en contacte amb
After the accident,
the officer asked the bystanders to move on.
Després de l’accident, el policia demanà
que la gent circulés. As the bus moved
away, Pere unexpectedly jumped on. Quan l’autobús s’apartava, en Pere inesperadament hi pujà.
Hold on tight!
Agafa’t
fort!
Out – 1 (cap
a) fora 2 no aquí, no allà 3 sobresortir 4 distribuir
She went out
to look at the sky.
Ella
va sortir per mirar el cel.
Mr Evans is out; can you call back in twenty minutes?
El
senyor Evans no hi és; podeu tornar a trucar d’aquí a vint minuts?
I cut my knee on a
nail that was sticking out.
M’he
tallat el genoll amb un clau que sobresortia.
The gamblers watched
him intently as he dealt out the cards.
Els
jugadors el miraven atentament mentre distribuïa les cartes.
Over – 1 aquí,
allà 2 per sobre; d’un costat a
l’altre (passant per damunt)
Run
over
to Sandra’s and tell her dinner is ready. Corre
a casa de la Sandra
i digues-li que el sopar és a punt.
Our spirits
lifted after the clouds passed over.
Ens vam animar
quan els núvols van haver passat.
Through
–
de punt a punt, de banda a banda
The door was so narrow we couldn’t get through.
La
porta era tan estreta que no hi podíem passar.
Up – 1 amunt,
cap amunt 2 acostant-se a 3 fora del llit
How does a balloon stay up?
Com
s’aguanta enlaire un globus?
A stranger came up to me and asked for a light.
Un
desconegut se’m va acostar i em demanà foc.
Isn’t Isidre up yet?
Encara
no s’ha llevat l’Isidre?
Here, there and home
The adverbs here and there present
few difficulties, since they almost
completely correspond to their CATALAN equivalents aquí and allà. Note that allà
is often substituted by hi –
eg Hi són ara – and must be
translated as there in English: They are there now.
Both here and
there are also used colloquially to indicate or call attention
to the presence of someone or something here or there. Examples:
Here’s our bus.
Here’s
a letter we’ve
been saving for you.
Look! There’s Mònica!
There goes the
bus.
The word home can be used as an adverb with
verbs indicating direction; its meaning is a
casa, de casa, etc. In AmE, home can also be used with verbs
indicating presence, such as be and stay. Examples:
It’s time to go home.
After
the dinner party he had to be driven home. What time did you get home last night?
I phoned them but they weren’t home. I’d
rather stay home.
He
leaves home at ten.
The
-wards suffix
The suffix -ward/-wards can
be combined with various adverbs
of place and direction with a sense of cap a aquesta direcció. Examples:
backwards (enrere) downwards (cap
avall) forwards
(endavant) inwards (endins) leftwards (cap a l’esquerra)
onwards
(endavant) outwards (enfora) rightwards (cap a la dreta) towards (cap
a)
upwards (cap amunt)
1.4.
Adverbs
of time
Adverbs of time are used
to provide more information on when an event happens: for example, already, yet or soon.
1.4.1.
Frequency adverbs
Always – sempre
(central position)
We always get up at seven.
Ever – mai (alguna
vegada) (central position)
The frequency adverb ever is generally used in comparative,
interrogative and conditional sentences and corresponds to the CATALAN
mai in the same circumstances.
Examples:
The traffic
last Sunday was
worse than ever.
Have you ever been to Boston?
If you ever
come to Gósol, be sure to drop in.
Although ever
can be used in negative sentences – eg I
haven’t ever seen that film – the use of never (see below) in such cases is much more usual: I’ve never seen that film (No he vist mai aquesta pel·lícula).
However, the use of ever is more
common than never in negative
questions: the expression Haven’t you ever heard of Facebook?
(No has sentit mai a parlar de Facebook? is more usual
than Have you never heard...).
From time to time – de
tant en tant (usually final position; sometimes initial position)
They stop by from time to time to say hello.
From
time to time, we may provide you with information about new features.
Never – (no)
mai (central position)
See above for the comments concerning
the use of never versus ever.
I’ll never fall in love again!
There
are people who will never
team up with
others. We’ve never been to England.
Often
–
sovint (central position or final
position)
We often go there or We go there often.
I’ve often
heard about her or I’ve heard
about her often.
Sometimes
–
a vegades (initial, central or, less
frequently, final position)
Sometimes quality can be a problem or Quality can sometimes be a problem or
Quality can be
a problem sometimes.
Sometimes it’s better to wait or It’s better
sometimes to wait
or It’s better to wait
sometimes.
1.4.2. Adverbs of relative time
Afterwards – després, més tard (final position;
sometimes initial)
I didn’t find out about it until afterwards.
How
do you think you’ll feel about it afterwards?
We
had dinner on the beach; afterwards, we went for a walk.
Already – ja, in the sense of des d’abans (central position, but can be used in final position
when interrogative and expressing surprise)
I’ve already met your
wife.
When
we got there, Lluc had already left.
Are
you already here? or Are you here
already?
Any more/any
longer – ja no (final
position)
Note that, when used negatively in temporal expressions, any more and any longer are synonyms of no
longer (see below).
Audiences are not a passive entity
any more/any longer.
Don’t they live here any more/any longer?
At
once – 1 alhora, al mateix temps 2 de seguida (both senses, final position)
You can’t do three things at once.
No
pots fer tres coses alhora.
Laura’s in trouble;
we’ll have to leave at once!
La
Laura s’ha ficat en un embolic; haurem de marxar de seguida!
At the same
time – alhora, al mateix temps (final
position)
With our new TV you
can watch two programmes at the same time.
Before – abans (final position)
Have you ever been here before?
Before long – ben aviat, aviat, abans de gaire (initial
and, less frequently, final position)
Before long he was making more money than his
father.
Early – d’hora, abans d’hora (final position)
We usually have lunch early.
Acostumem
a dinar d’hora.
You’re twenty minutes
early.
Has
arribat vint minuts abans d’hora (massa d’hora).
In time – a temps, amb temps (final position)
We
weren’t in time for the opening number.
You’re just in time for lunch.
Late – tard (final position)
You’re late.
The
train from Lleida is usually late.
Meanwhile
(meantime) – mentrestant (initial
position)
Meanwhile, some societies are weakened
by bad government, inequalities and a lack
of education.
No longer – ja no (central position)
Note that no longer is a synonym of any more and any longer (see above).
Many products are no
longer produced for a local market.
On time – a
l’hora, puntual (final position)
He has trouble getting
to work on time. I doubt if
they’ll be on time.
So far – fins
ara (both initial and final position)
Note that there is a subtle
difference between so far and its apparent synonym
until now (see below). We use
so far to mean fins ara when the situation has not changed: eg We haven’t
had any problems so far (Fins ara no hem tingut
problemes) means that we still
have no problems. On the other hand, We
haven’t had any problems until now (Fins ara no havíem tingut problemes) means that there has been a
change and that now we do have problems.
This
is all I’ve been able to do so far.
So far, he hasn’t shown any interest at all.
Soon – aviat (final position or central
position if following the auxiliaries will
or would) He’ll be here soon or He’ll
soon be here.
They will be available in English soon or They will soon be available in English.
I have to drive back soon.
Still – encara (central
position, but before a negative contraction)
He still wants to come with us.
Do you still
work at the Port del Comte?
I still don’t understand.
Is she still
not speaking to him?
Yet – 1 ja question 2 encara negative (final position)
Have they finished painting your bathroom yet?
Ja
han acabat de pintar el vostre lavabo?
Is it nine o’clock
yet?
Ja són les
nou?
They don’t know me
yet.
Encara
no em coneixen.
We haven’t had a chance
to call them yet.
Encara no hem tingut l’oportunitat de trucar-los.
1.4.3.
Adverbs
of specific time
The term
adverbs of specific time
refers not only
to such terms
as today, tomorrow
and yesterday, but to
days, months and periods of the day. All
these adverbs normally occur in final position, though they can, for reasons of style, be used in initial position.
It is important to keep in mind that,
when the names of the months or days of the week
–
or the terms week (setmana), month (mes) or year (any) – refer to the one immediately
previous, English uses the adjective
last, but without the article. Similarly, when referring to the one immediately to come, it uses next, again without the article. Examples:
We met them last
March.
They’re going
to Tamariu next Tuesday.
August
was much rainier this year than last year.
We
won’t know how much we’ll have to pay until next week.
Finally, it should be mentioned that
all these adverbs can also be used as nouns. Examples:
Tomorrow will be sunny.
Last
Wednesday was the twenty-third of May. Now is the time to tell him how you feel.
Now – ara
You can come over now or wait until tomorrow.
Nobody’s there now.
Note also the expressions by now (a hores d’ara), from now on (d’ara endavant), right now (ara mateix) and until now (fins ara, but see the comments above
concerning the distinction between until
now and so far). Examples:
If he hasn’t gotten [AmE] here by now, he
isn’t coming. From now on we’ll do the class in English.
Do it right
now!
These
problems were caused
by a server failure which
had not been
detected until now.
Then
–
aleshores, en aquell temps (initial
or final position)
Then, when I was about twenty, I began to try my luck with editors.
There was no TV then.
Note also the expression then and there (en aquell precís moment, immediatament).
I decided then and there to become a doctor.
Today,
nowadays – avui, avui dia
The boss won’t be in today.
Most cars sold today
(nowadays) are front-wheel drive. People travel a lot nowadays.
Tomorrow
–
demà
I
don’t think I’ll be able to pay you tomorrow. We’ll have to finish the job
tomorrow.
We should also mention the expressions the day after and the next
day (l’endemà). Examples:
They aren’t
getting here till the day after tomorrow.
In England, the day after Christmas is Boxing Day. The
next day was cold and windy.
We’ll probably see them later
tonight. We’re leaving for
the coast tonight.
Yesterday
–
ahir
Joan
didn’t come to class yesterday. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Note too the expression the day before yesterday (abans-d’ahir). For example:
She had her knee
operation the day before yesterday.
1.5.
Adverbs
of affirmation and doubt
Adverbs
of affirmation and doubt are used to provide more information on the certainty
or uncertainty of statements.
1.5.1.
Adverbs
of affirmation
As in CATALAN,
in English adverbs of affirmation are used to indicate or emphasize that a
statement is true. The most common, of course, is yes. As for the others, it is important to remember that those that
go in central position almost always
precede a negative contraction. Example:
We
definitely haven’t done anything to be ashamed of.
The following is a table of some of the most common
affirmative adverbs.
|
certainly
[central]
– certament definitely
[central]
– certament for
sure (colloquial) [initial, final] – sens dubte indeed
[initial,
final] – en efecte |
probably [central]
– probablement really [central] – en
realitat, de debò surely [central,
initial] – segurament undoubtedly [central] – sens dubte |
Examples:
There are three things I know for sure about
teaching English.
Indeed,
the classroom has
not changed over
the last one hundred years. Most people will probably stay home.
The government
was really directed from London.
When expressing surprise,
the CATALAN expression Ah, sí?,
meaning De debò? is normally
translated Really? Example:
“John’s asked Mary to
marry him.” “Really?”
1.5.2.
Adverbs
of doubt
Adverbs
of doubt express negativity or uncertainty. Here is a list of some of the most
important of these adverbs.
|
apparently [central, initial] – pel que sembla maybe
[initial]
– potser perhaps
[initial]
– potser |
possibly
[initial]
– possiblement seemingly
[central]
– aparentment |
Examples:
Maybe/Perhaps they got lost.
I couldn’t possibly have had better
care. They were seemingly identical.
1.6.
Adverbs
of degree
We have already studied
the adverbs too, very, quite and enough in
section Sy 2.3. The following table lists other important adverbs of degree.
They all go in a central position.
Examples:
|
almost
– gairebé, quasi |
hardly
– amb prou feines |
|
barely
– amb prou feines |
nearly
– gairebé |
|
completely
– completament |
pretty
– bastant, força |
|
extremely
– extremadament |
rather
– bastant, força |
|
fairly
– bastant, força |
scarcely
– amb prou feines |
We’re almost there!
We had barely/hardly/scarcely begun
when it started
to rain. She was extremely displeased.
The work was
fairly/pretty/rather easy.
1.7.
Interrogative adverbs
For a study of the
interrogative English adverbs when, where, why and how, see section
Sy 5.4.
1.8.
Conjunctive adverbs
Conjunctive
adverbs, as their name implies, act very much like conjunctions. They generally
appear in initial position (unless otherwise noted) and are sometimes followed
by a comma. Here is a list of some of the most common along with an example of
each.
All the same, even so –
tanmateix, no obstant això
We’d never met, but all the same/even so, I
felt I’d known him all my life.
Altogether, all in all –
en conjunt, fet i fet
The hotel is a bit smaller
than we’d hoped but all in all we’re quite pleased.
All in all, we’d be better off waiting in the
car.
Anyway – malgrat això, de tota manera
The adverb anyway goes in final position when it means malgrat això, and in initial position when it means de tota manera.
You may not like it,
but do it anyway.
I don’t know what happened
to your money; anyway,
it’s gone. Anyway,
those of you who prefer
to work from home can do so.
At
any rate, in any event – de tota
manera
At any rate/In any event, it doesn’t hurt to
check it out.
At least, at
any rate, anyway – com a mínim,
si més no, de tota manera
I think the children
are finally asleep; at least/at any
rate/anyway, they’re quiet. At any rate, it is still
not very clear
how emotions are reflected in EEG patterns.
For example,
for instance – per exemple
For example, say “I
speak English well”, not “I speak well English”.
However – tanmateix, no obstant això
The
adverb however can also appear in
central position, separated by commas.
However, we understand that not everybody agrees or We understand,
however, that not everybody agrees.
In other
words, that is (to say) – és a dir
Those units that do not appear often in the set
of documents will have
more
weight, that is, will be more representative of the full set of documents.
Nevertheless,
nonetheless – tanmateix,
no obstant això
The adverbs nevertheless and nonetheless
can appear in any position, with or without commas.
Though we disliked each other, nevertheless/nonetheless we
agreed. Say what you will, we must
nevertheless/nonetheless go forward.
Nevertheless/nonetheless,
when we consider all the elements, we can single out the environment as key.
The mines were
modern but dangerous, nevertheless/nonetheless.
Now then, that
said – ara bé
The results were unexpected; now then/that said, the
experiment wasn’t a failure.
On the other
hand – d’altra banda, però
These systems
have to guarantee their independence, and,
on the other hand, be able to show information
in multiple formats.
Otherwise – altrament, si no
I’m glad you accompanied me; otherwise I
wouldn’t have come.
Still, all the
same – tanmateix, no obstant això
It is dangerous; still/all the same, I want to
go.
Is it raining? Then don’t go out.
Therefore,
thus – per tant
A is equal to B and B is equal to C; therefore, A is equal to C. Though – tanmateix, no obstant això, però
The adverb though normally
appears in final position.
This is not the only new development though.
1.1.
Adverbs
modifying adjectives or other adverbs
Although
an adverb usually modifies a verb, there are cases in which it modifies other
grammatical categories. In this section we will study three important cases of
this.
Adverbs
modifying adjectives
The
most common cases of adverbs modifying adjectives are those of amplifying
adverbs, which reinforce the sense of the adjective, and reducing adverbs,
which lessen the sense of the adjective. Note that many of these can also be
considered adverbs of degree, which we looked at in section Sy 2.4. Here are some
examples of the most common adverbs in each category.
Amplifying
adverbs
I’m very/really/awfully sorry you can’t come.
Esther
was deeply concerned about
the safety of the climb. This product is entirely free of chemical additives.
Their company
has a highly skilled staff.
His wife was sharply critical of his behaviour.
The
benefactors wish to remain totally
anonymous.
Reducing adverbs
The movie was a bit/a
little dull.
His
words were barely/hardly/scarcely
intelligible. The
boat was relatively small.
The adverbs fairly, rather and pretty all mean bastant/força; fairly is
generally used to express a positive quality (eg He’s fairly intelligent), rather
generally modifies a negative quality (eg The room was rather
warm) and pretty, the least formal of the three, can be used in both cases: He’s pretty intelligent and The
room was pretty warm. Note too that the adverb quite can have both an amplifying and reducing sense. Examples:
You’re quite right.
Tens
tota la raó.
Your paper isn’t quite
good enough.
El
teu treball no és prou bo.
Adverbs modifying other adverbs
As in the case of adverbs
modifying adjectives, adverbs that modify other adverbs can be either
amplifying or reducing. Examples:
You’ve come too/very soon.
Your son plays
the violin surprisingly well.
He
recovered from the accident fairly/pretty/rather
quickly.
Adverbs
modifying other grammatical categories
There are three main cases in which
adverbs can modify other grammatical categories: Reducing adverbs can modify
indefinite pronouns and the adjectives associated with them.
Adverbs that express approximation, such as about, around
and roughly, can modify
time and quantity expressions, as well as certain subordinate clauses.
The adverbs over and
under (més de and menys de)
can modify quantity
expressions. Examples:
Almost everybody
in this town has a dog. Nearly all/half
the women left early.
It rains so much there’s
virtually no air pollution. We got home about/around six in the morning.
The company paid him roughly double
the amount he expected.
I have saved up over two thousand euros.
There were under ten thousand shares sold.
