Weird Adverbs

WEIRD ADVERBS

Hello. Allan from indy English here.

I think this blog is late, but recently

I’vebeen busy.

Remember an adverb is a word that

gives more information about a verb.

Here are some questions about some

strange adverbs:

When does ‘late’ mean new or

recently?

When does ‘hard’ mean not much

or a little

When does ‘solid’ mean non-stop?

If I say:

Lately the company ordered

the latest computers, but they

arrived late.

then lately and latest don’t have a

meaning related to late.

I could paraphrase:

Recently the company ordered

the newest computers, but they

arrived late.

Similarly, if I say:

The apple was too hard so I

could hardly cut it with my

knife.

then the adverb hardly doesn’t

have a similar meaning to hard.

I could paraphrase:

The apple was too hard so

I had difficulty to cut with

my knife.

And if I say:

He trained solidly all month

to make his muscles solid.

In this case solidly means

non-stop or, all the time.

So I could paraphrase:

He trained without a break

all month to make his muscles

solid.

There is also shortly which

is about time:

I will finish work shortly.

The boy grew very short.

Anyway, don’t worry because

most of these types of adverbs,

‘…ly’ adverbs have a similar

meaning to the adjective they

come from:

The meeting was quick.

The meeting went quickly.

The people were noisy.

The people talked noisily.

See you next time,

Allan