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If money is short for our holiday, we could always think about going camping.
A Friendly Word - Tricky Adverbs
Build your English vocabulary with a friendly word focus. Practise meaning, spelling, and how words fit into sentences, so you can read and write with more confidence.
1 .
How many Adverbs are there in the following sentence?
'Sally wondered casually what the wiggly writing said, on the wall of the Arab bazaar.'
'Sally wondered casually what the wiggly writing said, on the wall of the Arab bazaar.'
0
1
2
3
2 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
'Maybe you shouldn't believe what people say, about everyone with red hair having a very quick temper', said Sam ... ... .
'Maybe you shouldn't believe what people say, about everyone with red hair having a very quick temper', said Sam ... ... .
... snappily.
... gingerly.
... hot-headedly.
... readily.
Almost any of these would be quite good, but 'gingerly' works best because 'ginger' is a fairly common nickname for someone with red hair. There is an allusion to the spice, ginger, which is used in making cakes and biscuits to give a flavour that is both 'hot' but reasonably sweet.
Perhaps rather surprisingly, and completely unrelated, the adverb 'gingerly' means 'in a gentle, cautious, unobtrusive manner' ~ the kind of way that someone might creep into an important meeting if they have arrived late, and/or know they are going to be in trouble.
Perhaps rather surprisingly, and completely unrelated, the adverb 'gingerly' means 'in a gentle, cautious, unobtrusive manner' ~ the kind of way that someone might creep into an important meeting if they have arrived late, and/or know they are going to be in trouble.
3 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
In the widely-known and loved prayer by St Richard of Chichester (active in the 13th century), the believer asks God for the strength and grace to :
' (...) know you more ... ... , love you more ... .... , and follow you more ... ... , day by day.'
In the widely-known and loved prayer by St Richard of Chichester (active in the 13th century), the believer asks God for the strength and grace to :
' (...) know you more ... ... , love you more ... .... , and follow you more ... ... , day by day.'
... nearly ... / ... dearly ... / ... clearly ...
... nearly ... / ... clearly ... / ... dearly ...
... clearly ... / ... dearly ... / ... nearly ...
... dearly ... / ... nearly ... / ... clearly ...
Whether or not you are an active believer in any religion, we hope you will find this a very pretty means of expressing the Christian pilgrim's wish to follow in The Way.
Each adverb, as well as rhyming with the others, is an appropriate one to modify and intensify the verb that it goes with.
Each adverb, as well as rhyming with the others, is an appropriate one to modify and intensify the verb that it goes with.
4 .
How many Adverbs are there in the following sentence?
'We have finally reached a very satisfactory level of quarterly sales.'
'We have finally reached a very satisfactory level of quarterly sales.'
0
1
2
3
'Finally' is an Adverb of time; 'very' (despite not ending in '-ly') is an intensifying adverb which modifies the adjective that follows it; 'quarterly' is an adjective (like 'daily'; it means 'for each quarter of the year', i.e. a three-month trading period).
5 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
'I doubt it'll rain tomorrow', said Uncle Fred ... ... .
'I doubt it'll rain tomorrow', said Uncle Fred ... ... .
... dryly.
... drily.
... drighly.
... driely.
Answer 1 (leaving the original '-y' as it was) is OK as an alternative, but looks ~ perhaps ~ slightly odd; similarly 'shyly' and 'slyly'.
There is a Pun here, because 'dry' describes the way Uncle Fred is speaking (i.e. without much emotion or enthusiasm), but the weather is also going to be dry.
There is a Pun here, because 'dry' describes the way Uncle Fred is speaking (i.e. without much emotion or enthusiasm), but the weather is also going to be dry.
6 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
Many an English folk tale ends with the phrase :
' ... And they all lived ... ... ever after.'
Many an English folk tale ends with the phrase :
' ... And they all lived ... ... ever after.'
... hapily ...
... happily ...
... happyly ...
... hapyly ...
Don't forget that when an Adverb is formed from an adjective that ended in a short unstressed '-y', this letter changes into an '-i-' before the '-ly' is added (e.g. 'noisy => noisily' ; 'ready => readily' ; 'scary => scarily').
7 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
'I reckon I have now ... ... mastered the Art of the English Adverb.'
'I reckon I have now ... ... mastered the Art of the English Adverb.'
... realy, truely and wholely ...
... realy, truely and wholly ...
... really, truly and wholly ...
... realy, truly and wholly ...
Three quite common, and each slightly tricky, examples here!
8 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
'The administration on this project has really been very poor and disorganised', said Mr Harrison ... ... .
'The administration on this project has really been very poor and disorganised', said Mr Harrison ... ... .
... angrily.
... listlessly.
... critically.
... eventually.
'Listless' = 'uncomfortable, ill-at-ease' (somehow 'not well in one's own skin', as some other languages suggest).
The pun suggests that Mr Harrison, and probably others involved in the project, have not been given lists to help them keep track of what was going on.
Any of the other Answers would make good sense, but they do not carry the pun.
The pun suggests that Mr Harrison, and probably others involved in the project, have not been given lists to help them keep track of what was going on.
Any of the other Answers would make good sense, but they do not carry the pun.
9 .
How many Adverbs are there in the following sentence?
'I would like to thank you for your kindly and timely contribution to our project.'
'I would like to thank you for your kindly and timely contribution to our project.'
0
1
2
3
'Kindly' and 'timely' (despite their '-ly' endings) are each Adjectives describing the contribution/s.
'Kindly' can, of course, also be the adverbial form of 'kind' in such a situation as: ''Will you kindly leave the room for a couple of minutes?' or 'The woman at the shop very kindly helped me with this problem.' (In each case, the following word is a Verb.)
'Kindly' can, of course, also be the adverbial form of 'kind' in such a situation as: ''Will you kindly leave the room for a couple of minutes?' or 'The woman at the shop very kindly helped me with this problem.' (In each case, the following word is a Verb.)
10 .
Choose the best, clearest and most accurate answer.
'If money is short for our holiday, we could always think about going camping ...' suggested someone ... ... .
'If money is short for our holiday, we could always think about going camping ...' suggested someone ... ... .
... sensibly.
... cautiously.
... quietly.
... tentatively.
'Tentative' means 'on a trial basis', i.e. it is only a provisional suggestion to be considered. There is a pun on the word 'tent' (which, of course, they would presumably need for a camping holiday); though in fact, there is no actual connection between these words.
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'Casually' is the one genuine adverb here, describing the not-at-all-urgent way in which she was considering the sign.
'Wiggly' is, in fact, an adjective ( ~ you may hear children speaking, or singing, about 'a wiggly worm').