Questions tagged [adverbials]
The adverbials tag has no usage guidance.
51 questions
2
votes
2
answers
445
views
while he was watching the game
a. I was writing a letter for an hour while he was watching the game.
b. I was writing a letter for an hour**,** while he was watching the game.
Does the comma change the meaning?
In which case he was ...
- 3,149
0
votes
2
answers
32
views
while he is away for a while
a. I am staying in his flat while he is away for a while.
Does 'for a while' modify 'I am staying in his flat' or 'he is away'?
Is it possible that the intended meaning is I am staying in his flat ...
- 3,149
0
votes
1
answer
57
views
A war over Taiwan would entail many risks for Russia
A war over Taiwan would entail many risks for Russia:
(source)
Is for Russia adjectival or adverbial?
A friend of mine asked me whether the sentence can be rephrased as "For Russia, a war over ...
- 1,951
1
vote
0
answers
65
views
Present Perfect + Before + Present Perfect vs. Past Simple / What is the difference?
KOTB: (Voiceover) Behind the shouting, behind the intense focus on basketball, coach is busy doing for these girls what he's been doing for 26 years. Shaping young lives. His reach extends well beyond ...
- 85
11
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Is it grammatically correct to say 'I suspect this clause to be a bit sloppy English'?
I have been told by a user it's wrong to say 'I suspect this clause to be a bit sloppy English' because 'a bit' is used there attributively and that 'a bit' can only be used predicatively as in the ...
- 1,511
3
votes
3
answers
891
views
a man tall and strong
I talked to a tall and strong man like you.
I talked to a man tall and strong like you.
I talked to a tall and strong man, like you.
I talked to a man tall and strong, like you.
What is the ...
- 3,149
1
vote
0
answers
47
views
Can "the mornings" be used as an adverbial? E.g.: "The mornings it was raining, I went for a massage. The mornings it was sunny, I went to the beach."
I know that the prepositional phrases "in/on the mornings", "in/on the afternoons" and "in/on the evenings" can be used as adverbials.
But I don't know whether the noun ...
- 5,645
-2
votes
1
answer
73
views
"They live ten miles north of Boston."—Does it mean "10m from the north of Boston to the north" or "from the north of Boston to an unknown direction"?
oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com:
(1) They live ten miles north of Boston.
What does it literally mean?:
(1a) Being in the north of Boston, we should go ten miles north in order to come to them.
(1b) ...
- 5,645
5
votes
3
answers
939
views
I learned much of my English watching
I learned much of my English vocabulary watching Hollywood movies.
I learned much of my English vocabulary from watching Hollywood movies.
I learned much of my English vocabulary by watching Hollywood ...
- 954
1
vote
2
answers
42
views
Is the present participle phrase correctly used to establish cause and effect relationship?
She brought fourteen children to term and lost four of them, leaving her with ten kids who ranged in age from Anne, who was twenty, to Billy and Jim, the sweet-eyed twins, who were six.
From Say ...
0
votes
1
answer
46
views
talked angrily to me as [closed]
a. He talked angrily to me, as to his child.
b. He talked angrily to me as to his child.
Do these mean:
He talked angrily to me and to his child as well.
He talked angrily to me in the same way he ...
- 3,149
0
votes
2
answers
85
views
So that vs so to express purpose
He studied hard __ he could go to a good university
A. because
B. in order to
C. so
D. so that
I guess D is the "right" answer.
According to what I have learned, "so" and "...
- 1,907
0
votes
1
answer
25
views
Prepositional phrase or adjective phrase
i think that we can make a step in the right direction
In the sentence above, is "that we can make a step in the right direction" a noun clause or adverb clause?
It's very confusing for me ...
0
votes
1
answer
45
views
Is 'skeptical' an adverbial accusative in this sentence?
I understand 'good' is an adverb meaning 'well' in this example sentence of 'start out' in the Merriam-Webster dictionary :
The story started out good, but I didn't like the ending.
But I think '...
user157844
0
votes
2
answers
41
views
as his father played pool
a. As his father played pool, so did he.
I think (a) can mean that he played pool because his father did, or that they played pool at the same time.
Could it mean that he played pool in the same ...
- 3,149
-2
votes
1
answer
24
views
the document to analyse [closed]
a) I sent them the document to analyze.
Can't this correspond to:
I sent them the document for them to analyze it
and
I sent them the document which was to be analyzed.
(It is even possible to ...
- 3,149
3
votes
2
answers
930
views
in four months / after four months / four months later
Are the following boldfaced options okay? If any one of them is not okay, could you explain why?
The judge sentenced the murderer to death on December 15 last year, and he was executed in four months ...
- 6,000
1
vote
1
answer
39
views
Is "that" omissible after "with the result"?
In CGEL, while discussing the purpose adjuncts "so/in order" + that-clause (p. 727), it is stated that "that" is omissible after "so", but not after "in order".
...
2
votes
1
answer
144
views
Can an "adverb of time" modify a noun/ noun phrase?
I'm aware that an "adverb of time" usually just modifies a verb and answers the question "when". But, I'm a bit confused with this sentence here:
"He completed a course for a ...
- 31
2
votes
2
answers
89
views
Deciding the semantic role of an adverbial clause starting with "with"
The sentence at issue is
When I woke up with my legs dangling over the side of the bed, my feet touched something other than the floor.
Could you help me determine whether "with my legs ...
- 21
0
votes
1
answer
43
views
Which is the adverbial in this sentence
You're at the station at the moment, right? OK, so I live about a kilometre from there. Go out of the station and walk down the road and away from the city centre.
For sure there are many adverbials ...
user138449
1
vote
1
answer
60
views
Adverbial clause of purpose
I read in some grammar book that "If the verb in the main clause is in the present tense we use 'will, can, may' in the adverbial clause of purpose and if it is in the past tense we use 'would, ...
- 818
0
votes
0
answers
41
views
Participles Functioning as Adverbials
I've read that 'participles functioning as adverbials' can be usefully viewed as reduced forms of adverb clauses. My question is can all participles functioning as adverbials be reconstituted into ...
- 113
0
votes
2
answers
35
views
Why the correct option is 'unless properly dealt with' rather than others?
I am practicing an exercise for conditional adverbial clause, there is a hard exercise that makes me confused with all these four options.
The official soon realized that, ( ), things would get worse....
1
vote
0
answers
94
views
Participle Clause - Adjectival or Adverbial
It is hard for me to parse the participle clause in the following sentence and to know whether it is an adjectival or adverbial clause.
"Notices were placed in the press all over the United ...
0
votes
1
answer
27
views
a knife to defend himself
a. He had a knife in his pocket to defend himself.
b. In his pocket, he had a knife to defend himself.
c. He had a knife to defend himself in his pocket.
Are all of the above sentences grammatically ...
- 3,149
1
vote
2
answers
65
views
Each is correct
Today I was talking with my boyfriend and I said:
I wanted to know if you got safe at work
and he answered me like that
Oh sorry, I got there safe.
But I automatically said it’s wrong to use "...
0
votes
1
answer
29
views
“In the way quoted” or “the way in which quoted”
I wouldn't use 'degree of' in the way quoted in the Cambridge Corpus
Shouldn’t it be “I wouldn’t use ‘degree of’ the way in which it is quoted in the Cambridge Corpus”?
Why do concrete nouns not ...
user141460
0
votes
0
answers
175
views
I wrote a letter for an hour
I've just read that it is not possible to say "I wrote a letter for three hours", but I've seen many examples like "I read the book for an hour" or "I watched the film for an ...
- 3,964
0
votes
0
answers
57
views
What parts of speech are "together" and "at the park"?
What parts of speech do you think 'together' and 'at the park' are and what do they describe in this sentence:
Nobody saw Anna and John together at the park.
I'm thinking 'together' is a adverb, and ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
57
views
Understanding simultaneity: "Sue was surprised and said, “What the hell!”"
I have difficulty understanding the difference between three sentences below:
Sue was surprised and said, “What the hell!”
and
Sue was surprised as she said, “What the hell!”
and
Sue said in ...
- 123
0
votes
0
answers
25
views
Phil, in his bedroom, texted Jane
a. In his bedroom, Phil texted Jane.
b. Phil, in his bedroom, texted Jane.
Wouldn't you say that there are three slightly different ways to understand these sentences?
Phil, who was in his bedroom, ...
- 3,149
-2
votes
1
answer
36
views
Is there a mistake in my sentences? (inversion)
Inversion to emphasize a negative or limiting adverbial
1.We didn't discover the mistake until much later.
Ans: Not until much later did we discover the mistake.
2.Nowadays People no longer go by sea.
...
- 1
-1
votes
1
answer
75
views
Which (if either) of these two possibilities is the better choice?
Could you please tell me which of the following sentences is right?
Please arrange a meeting for today, 10 a.m. so that we can finalize the plan.
Please arrange a meeting so that we can finalize the ...
Kumar Lakshmanan
0
votes
1
answer
92
views
How can we say that 'adverbs are placed as close as possible to the words they are supposed to modify'
eg. He ate the cake quickly, In this sentence 'quickly' modifies 'ate' but they are not close to each other.
3
votes
2
answers
141
views
How to explain an adverbial modifier being between a verb and an object?
In any Grammar I read I see:
"We don't put adverbs between the verb and the object"
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/adverbs-and-adverb-phrases-position
but when I ...
- 729
0
votes
1
answer
47
views
"I use my phone to keep in touch with my friends asking them about homework."
I heard a native speaker say this sentence
I use my phone to keep in touch with my friends asking them about homework.
I wonder why he said ‘asking’ instead of ‘to ask’. Is it a gerund?
- 359
1
vote
1
answer
5k
views
for long vs. for a long time
I have not heard from him for long or for a long time.
Can I use for long and for a long time in the above sentence interchangeably? Or do these phrases have different meaning and usage?
- 133
0
votes
1
answer
506
views
'Almost' between the verb and the object
I wonder if I can use the adverb 'almost' between the verb and the object. Can I write,
I ate almost the whole fish.
or do I have to write,
I almost ate the whole fish.
It appears to me both ...
- 133
2
votes
1
answer
37
views
What does "where" mean in "co-operating with liberal or conservative parties where possible to survive the entire term"?
In their 2020-02-05 column, “Minority report: German politics”, The Economist writes:
In the 1970s West Germany’s two main parties, one centre-left, one centre-right, together captured over 90% of ...
- 385
2
votes
3
answers
120
views
How can I know when a present-tense verb has a future time implication not strictly a present time one?
When do I know that the present tense has a future implication not a present one?
For instance:
We are making some changes to the speech and we are losing the ‘ocean’
part.
Does the verb losing here ...
- 29
1
vote
2
answers
8k
views
is it correct to say "at the lessons"?
Many Russian textbooks use the adverbial "at the lessons" meaning that something takes place during some lessons/classes.
For example: "Children call each other names at the lessons".
I heard that ...
- 729
1
vote
2
answers
264
views
Picking out Adverb Phrases from the given sentence
He strove with all his might to escape
According to my Wren and Martin textbook, with all his might is an adverb phrase in the given sentence. But what is to escape? Is it an adverb phrase as well?
Sandhya Singh
0
votes
0
answers
33
views
Are adverbials inclined to the subject?Rather than simply modifying the verb
"He writes the word on the board."
If adverbials are simply about the verb, then “on the board” in “He writes the word on the board” can be explained as either an adverbial or an complement, for on ...
0
votes
0
answers
30
views
Can this clause function as an adverbial of reason?
I couldn’t analyse the structure of this sentence properly. Specifically, i don’t know what is the function of the clause “over giving weighting factor to the role of youngsters.”
This is the whole ...
0
votes
1
answer
346
views
"Me either" or "Me too" - what's the correct reply?
My friend, she texted me ' I"m just glad no cougar or bear approached you.'
And I said ' Yeah, Me either'
I mean 'Me too'
Is this correct reply..?
1
vote
0
answers
182
views
Disjunct/Adjunct and the focus of cleft sentence
I generally don't follow the terminology and framework of A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (CGEL) by Quirk et al., rather I follow The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CaGEL). ...
- 10.9k
0
votes
2
answers
33
views
Putting a word between "every" and "day"
Can I put any word between every and day in these circumstances:
I feel disappointed every exam day.
He brings his umbrella along every cloudy day.
Thank you.
- 1,827
-1
votes
1
answer
29
views
Is while in this sentence necessary? [closed]
Today I am supposed to give my introduction in front of a student whom I am going to teach. I have prepared a speech that goes like this
I am Kuldeep Sharma. I am a language trainer. A language ...
- 401
0
votes
1
answer
136
views
Is a fronted phrase describing a state of mind a "fronted adverbial"?
My son's learning about fronted adverbials at school (at the age of 11). When he goes to write one, he generally comes up with things like this (when asked to do a sentence for a picture with a car in ...
- 766