Dictionaries say both 'literally' and 'literarily' could be adverb, but they say nothing about the usage of literarily.
So, what would be the differences in usage for these two words?
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Sign up to join this communityDictionaries say both 'literally' and 'literarily' could be adverb, but they say nothing about the usage of literarily.
So, what would be the differences in usage for these two words?
Though they may seem similar, they are actually not that related to each other.
literally means that something means exactly what it says:
in the literal or strict sense: She failed to grasp the metaphor and interpreted the poem literally. source
literarily means something in relation to books or literature:
In a literary manner. source
See also the Oxford definition.
It may be worth noting that literally is much more used than literarily and will therefore be more important to learn for those who are learning English.
"Literarily" goes deeper than "literally" because, the former is associated with deeper information gained from books or literature while the latter is simply a metaphor meaning the exact or face-value interpretation of something being said.