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英语语法:227 Do All Adverbs End in "-Ly"?

时间:2010-11-19 02:26来源:互联网 提供网友:jk6218   字体: [ ]
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Today we’re going to see if we are allowed to “drive slow” instead of “slowly.” May we “jump high” or “sit up straight”? What about the advertising1 slogan “Eat fresh”? Yes, today is adverb day, with a sprinkling of adjectives.
The podcast edition of this article was sponsored by Audible. Get a free audiobook to keep when you sign up for a free 14-day trial at AudiblePodcast.com/gg.
What Are Adjectives and Adverbs?
An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun. For example, in the sentence “That is a real diamond,” “real” is an adjective that modifies the noun “diamond.” Other examples of adjectives are “happy” and “equal.”
Squiggly threw the girl a happy smile.
Aardvark hoped for equal time to charm her.
An adverb, on the other hand, modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs often have an “-ly” at the end, as in “happily” and “heartily2.”
Squiggly happily posed for the cameras.
Aardvark heartily hoped he would get a turn in the limelight.
Such adverbs are usually formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective, as we just did with the adjectives “happy” and “hearty.”
Do All Adverbs End in "-Ly"?
Other adverbs, however, such as “very,” don't fit this pattern. You might complain, for example, “Sam eats very noisily.” In that sentence, the adverb “very” modifies another adverb, “noisily.”
To confuse matters, adjectives can also end in “-ly.” For example, in the sentence “The lonely wolf howled at the moon,” the adjective “lonely” modifies the noun “wolf.” So you can’t tell if words are adverbs or adjectives just by looking to see if they end in “-ly.” These two letters at the end of a word can be a clue, but you can’t rely on spelling.
What Are Flat Adverbs?
You must have heard the joke “Working hard? Or hardly working?” Both versions—“hard” and “hardly”—are adverbs. “Hardly” is one of those regular “-ly” adverbs. “Hard” is what’s called a flat adverb, which according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Modern Usage is “an adverb that has the same form as its related adjective” (1). Examples include the word “fast” in “Drive fast!” and “bright” in “The moon is shining bright” (2).
Merriam-Webster notes that grammarians have been arguing about this kind of adverb for at least a couple of centuries and shares the interesting fact that flat adverbs used to be a lot more common than they are now. The guide offers charmingly odd-sounding examples such as “…I was horrid3 angry…,” a 1667 quotation4 from Samuel Pepys; and “…the weather was so violent hot,” from Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719. Few modern speakers would utter such statements, and they would be incorrect to do so, as you’re not allowed to chop off any old “-ly.” You couldn’t say, for example, “She dresses real smartly.” It would have to be “really smartly” since the adverb “really” modifies the adverb “smartly.” The word “real” is an adjective.
Which Words Are Flat Adverbs?
Modern speakers are, however, allowed to say things such as “Drive slow” and “Stay close.” Much as some sticklers5 would like these sentences to be as incorrect as “violent hot” is today, flat adverbs are real, and you can use them—really. Various style guides give many examples of bona fide flat adverbs. Here’s a short list: “far,” “fast,” “hard,” “slow,” “quick,” “straight” (3), “clean,” “close,” “deep,” and “fine” (4). So go ahead and say, “He kept his cards close” or “Please sit tight.”
Can Words Be Both Adjectives and Adverbs?
“What?” you may be thinking. “Words like ‘far,’ ‘close,’ and ‘tight’ are adjectives!” You’re right, but they can also be adverbs. Some adjectives and adverbs have the same form, and that’s what a flat adverb is. Some of these adjective-adverb-whatever-they-are-thingies never change. So “fast” always stays “fast.” You get into the fast lane, and you drive fast if you don't want to get rear ended. You never say, “fastly.” “Long” and “far” also fall into this category. You would definitely raise eyebrows6 if you tried to use “longly” or “farly.”
Now, you may also be thinking that you can sometimes stick an “-ly” onto these adjectives that are also adverbs. And you'd be right again! You are allowed to add an “-ly” to the word “close,” for example. You’ll get the very normal adverb “closely.”
Pairs of adverbs like this often convey different meanings, however, and you can’t use them interchangeably. The flat adverb “close” and the regular “-ly” adverb “closely” fall into this category. You could say, “Stand close,” but “Stand closely” would sound odd. You would use “closely” in a sentence such as “Look closely at this photograph.”
Other times both forms mean the same thing and you may use either one (5). Common pairs in this category include “Drive slow”/“Drive slowly” and “Hold on tight”/“Hold on tightly” (6). Go ahead and pick whichever one sounds best to you for your particular sentence. If you’re unsure about the form of an adverb, check your dictionary.
The Verdict
Let’s now look back at the questions we posed at the beginning: Are “Drive slow,” “Jump high,” “Sit up straight,” and “Eat fresh” OK to use? The first three are a definite yes. You could also say, “Drive slowly,” but you’d never say, “Jump highly” or “Sit up straightly.” Those are just weird7.
As for the advertising slogan “Eat Fresh,” let’s just call it an example of a creative adverb that is meant to bring attention to itself. We dealt with the topic of creative advertising slogans when we analyzed8 “I’m loving it,” courtesy of McDonald’s.
The main point that applied9 in that case and that applies here to Subway’s slogan is that advertisers sometimes push the boundaries of correctness just to get noticed. Although “fresh” does not appear to be an official flat adverb, it can be an adverb, as in the phrase “fresh out.” You might say, “We're fresh out of mayonnaise.” You just don’t normally pair “fresh” with the verb “to eat.” “Freshly,” on the other hand, is an established adverb that you would use in a sentence such as “I ate the freshly baked cookies,” but you couldn’t say, “Eat freshly.”
The most generous way to interpret Subway’s slogan is to say that there's an implied noun at the end and that the adjective “fresh” modifies that noun. So, it could mean “Eat fresh sandwiches.” Although that might not be as catchy10 as “Eat fresh,” we grammarians would prefer that Subway include the word “sandwiches,” if that’s the intended meaning. The bottom line? Unless you’re in advertising, I don’t recommend that you write this creative. I mean, this creatively.
Conclusion
Flat adverbs are a real type of adverb. Just make sure that you’re using a bona fide flat adverb and that you aren’t leaving out a necessary “-ly.” If you'd rather not irritate the sensitive types, you could always rephrase your sentence or use the “-ly” form if it is allowed in your particular sentence. For more on adverbs that behave a little differently than you might expect, check out our shows on “Good Versus11 Well” and “Bad Versus Badly.” And don’t forget to tune12 in to the one about how to eliminate adverbs.
Before we say, “That’s all,” let’s acknowledge that you did work hard as you listened today. You were not hardly working.
The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier & Grammar Girl
This article was written by Bonnie Trenga, author of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, who blogs at sentencesleuth.blogspot.com, and read in the podcast by Mignon Fogarty, author of the New York Times bestseller, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
 


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1 advertising 1zjzi3     
n.广告业;广告活动 a.广告的;广告业务的
参考例句:
  • Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
  • The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。
2 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
3 horrid arozZj     
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的
参考例句:
  • I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
  • The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃,她咽不下去。
4 quotation 7S6xV     
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情
参考例句:
  • He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
  • The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。
5 sticklers f0bd6ae9492e6558fb58449e0462fa60     
n.坚持…的人( stickler的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • They infuriate word sticklers by presenting a and leaving the reader to decide which is correct. 它们会提出一堆解释让读者自己判断哪个是正确的,令人大为光火。 来自互联网
6 eyebrows a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5     
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
  • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
7 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
8 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
10 catchy 1wkztn     
adj.易记住的,诡诈的,易使人上当的
参考例句:
  • We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号,旧的不够吸引人。
  • The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。
11 versus wi7wU     
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
参考例句:
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
12 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
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