Biber Et Al Seleccion

Este material se reproduce con fines didcticos nicamente Biber et al. Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman.
Seleccin. Pp. 408-429 !"8-!#9.
Intransitive phrasal verbs: I fellin. ( CO N V ) He just doesnt fit in. ( CO N V ) I would like to stay on and honor my contract. ( N E WS ) Details of the crimes in Chelmsford were still coming in yesterday. ( N E W S ) Free combinations of verb + prepositional phrase: More than an inch of rain fell in a few hours. ( N E WS ) The mushroom was too big to fit in a special dryer at Purdue University s
plant and fungi collectien. ( N E W S )
Many dealers were conten! to stay on the sidelines. ( N E W S ) For coming in the opposite direction was an endless flood of motor cyclists.( NEWS ) B Prepositional verb v. free combination A second class of combinations with mltiple functions involves verbs followed by prepositional phrases that can be interpreted as either prepositional verbs or as free combinations. In some cases this distinction is difficult to make, since it involves an interpretation of whether the noun phrase followin the preposition is functionin as an ob!ect "referrin to a person or thin ) or as part of an adverbial "e. . referrin to a place or time). #his duality of function is especially problematic with prepositions that can mark spatial relations, such as in, on, and $rom. %hen the noun phrase followin these prepositions identifies a location or time, they function as free combinations "with w$i&'uestions typically formed with where or when"#
$ person resem%ling a poor clergyman or a poor actor appeared in the doorway. ( F I CT )
The service of the Irish church used in &ount 'erome is simpler. ( F I CT ) Bert had appeared on the stairs. ( FI CT ) Members are comingfrom Swit(erland) Germany) *olland) . . . ( NEWS ) (owever, when the noun phrase followin these prepositions primarily identifies a person or thin , these same multi&word se'uences can be considered prepositional verbs "with wh&'uestions formed with who or what"#
Susannah +ork and $nna &assey appear in the thriller ,he &an from the Pru. ( N E W S )
They are, however, widely used in the preparation of special cakes. ( A CA D ) Would be Barry !ormans in "dinburgh are being given the chance to a##ear on a new movie review ,program. ( N E WS )
The first goal came from ,im .liss. ( N E WS ) C Transitive phrasal verb v. prepositional verb v. free combination A few combinations can actually serve three different functions: as transitive phrasal verb, prepositional verb, and free combination. #hus, consider the followin e)amples with put on and put in. #ransitive phrasal verb function*the particle on or in can be placed either before or after the object noun phrase: I put my shoes on. ( FI CT )
*e had put on his spectades. ( F I CT )
$ave you put any alarms in yet/ ( CO N V ) %ou want someone young, hungry, and willing to #ut in a lot of hours& ( N E W S ) +repositional verb function*the noun phrase followin on or in marks who or what.
,hey put handcuffs on me. ( FI CT )
That's because you didnt #ut vinegar on it& ( N E WS ) I(m gonna #ut tomato #uree in it& ( CO N V ) That's right& )ut them in cold water, ( CO N V )
,nidad III - +r.ctica de la #raducci/n I - 0iber et al - Fra mentos seleccionados. +p. 123& 145, 673&685.
Free combination*the prepositional phrase be innin with on or in marks where or when#

0on t put it on the floor. ( CO N V )
*he #ut it carefully on the table& ( FI CT ) I #ut them all in the dee# free+e& ( CO N V ) )ut it in the microwave for two minutes& ( CO N V ) D. Intermediate uses :ther uses are intermediate and mi ht be interpreted as belon in to multiple cate ories. For e)ample, come %ack
meaning to 'recover' or `resume (an activity)' might be interpreted as either a free combination (since both come and %ack contribute independently to the meaning) or as a phrasal verb (since the combined meaning is somewhat different from the sum of the parts):
"verton carne back from a goal down to beat Blackburn , -& ( N E WS ) It was not e.#ected that $anley, who returned from a summer in /ustralia with a bad #elvic strain, would come back before the !ew %ear& ( N E W S ) :f these two e)amples, the second is probably !ud ed more like a free combination than the first: it can, for instance, be paraphrased by ; o back;. (owever, neither of these e)amples is a free combination comparable to the followin purely literal e)ample of come %ack#
When 'im went to the p1lice station) officers told him to come %ack another day. ( N E W S )
Phrasal verbs #here are two ma!or subcate ories of phrasal verbs: intransitive and transitive. <)amples of intransitive phrasal verbs include %reak down) come along) come on) hold on) shut up2 examples of transitive phrasal verbs include %ring up) carry
out) find out) pick up) point out) take out) turn on. ntransitive phrasal verbs:
Come on, tell me about !ick& ( CO N V ) 0h shut u#1 %ou're so cruel, ( CO N V ) But then this damn college kid asked if he could come along& ( F I CT ) $old on1 What are you doing there2 ( F I CT ) I 3ust broke down in tears when I saw the letter& ( N E WS ) !ransitive phrasal verbs: Did you #oint out the faults on it then2 ( CO N V ) =ar otte rarely turned on the televisi/n set. "fict) $ ventured to brin up the sub!ect of the future. "fict) %ith transitive phrasal verbs the direct ob!ect can appear between the particle and the verb. #his is the normal word order when the ob!ect is a pronoun "99.4.1.1): #erri turnea it on. "conv) $ !ust thou ht I would point it out to you. "conv) #he warden said that she would turn the heatin on. "acad!) In addition, a few phrasal verbs are copular, such as turn out, end up, and wind up> 6.6. 6.7.4.9 ?emantic domains of phrasal verbs +hrasal verbs can be classified by semantic domain, based on their core meanin s, usin the same cate ories as simple le)ical verbs "6.4.9). @ike sin le&word le)ical verbs, many phrasal verbs have mltiple meanin s. #his is especially true of activity verbs, which often have secondary meanin s in some other domain. For e)ample, the phrasal verbs make up, make out, sort out, and take in can all refer to either physical or mental activities. +hysical activities: ?o he took it in to be looked at. "conv) $ find myself obli ed to make up round. "fict) I know you were makin out with that Aerm.n maid. "fict) ! pick them into a lard pail then sort out the dead twi s and leaves. "fict!) =ental activities: I used to make up stories for him. "conv) ?he held up her wrist> on it he made out a small dark bruise. "fict) BI would be deli hted, +rime =inister,B Andrew stammered, tryin to take in the news. "fict) It has iven me time to sort out my priorities. "news!) ?imilarly, put down and take up can refer to either physical or communication activities> rurn round and wake up can have a causatiye meanin in addition to the simply physical activity sense> keep up and set out can have both activity and aspectual meanin s. (owever, most phrasal verbs have core meanin s in only one domain, and the followin lists "6.7.4.7) are or aniCed in those terms.
In addition, it is important to note that many combinations that function as phrasal verbs can also function as a prepositional verb or free combination "6.7.9.9). #he information included in these sections is based on counts of their occurrences as phrasal verbs only. 6.7.4.4 De ister distribution of phrasal verbs E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 4 HI :verall, phrasal verbs are used most commonly in fiction and conversation> they are relatively rare in academic prose. H& In fiction and conversation, phrasal verbs occur almost 4,222 times per million words. #able 6.97 :verall fre'uency of phrasal verbs> per million words each represents 922 conv J & I; +IE# ; & J K III & JIJL :&: J; J IBI F<%? & & M & & & GI?E,??I:I= :F FIFGIFA? #he distribution pattern of phrasal verbs closely matches that for le)ical verbs enerally "cf. Fi ure 6.1), e)cept that academic prose has fewer than would be e)pected. #hus, rather than bein a marked feature of conversation, phrasal verbs are notably rare in academic prose. In their place, academic prose shows a much reater reliance on derived verbs and more specialiCed verbs enerally "6.4.N). 6.7.4.7 #he most common phrasal verbs E:ft+,? FIFGIFA? 4 #he lar e ma!ority of common phrasal verbs are activity verbs "c. N6O)> see #able 6.91. :ther common verbs occurrin more than ten times per million words: HJ activity intransitive* et on, look out, mofe in, step up, walk in> HI activity transitive*brin in, build up, fill in, keep up, pulP up, pulP down, put in, put up, set out, sort out, take away, take in, take out, turn on, wake up, work out, LK mental transitive*make out> H& communication transitive* brin up, cali in> HI occurrence intransitive*break down, row up, set in> HJ aspectual intransitive*carry on, o ahead, han on> H& aspectual transitive*keep on, start off. #here are relatively few common phrasal verbs from the domains of mental, communication, occurrence, and aspectual verbs. Intransitive phrasal verbs are particularly common in conversation and fiction, but e)tremely rare in news and academic prose. #he intransitive verb come on in conversation is the sin le most common phrasal verb. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? :verall, conversation and fiction show much reater use of the most common phrasal verbs than news and academic prose. #his difference is especially noteworthy for intransitive phrasal verbs, which are e)tremely common in conversation and fiction, but e)tremely rare in news and academic prose. :ne reason for this difference is that most phrasal verbs are collo'uial in tone. In fact, the most common intransitive phrasal verbs are activity verbs commonly used as directives, often occurrin as imperatives. ?ince imperative clauses are far more common in conversation than the e)pository re isters "7.97.1.4), it is not surprisin that phrasal verbs used in this way are also rare in the e)pository re isters: #able 6.91 +hrasal verbs by semantic domain across re isters "includin all phrasal verbs that occur over 12 times per million words in at least one re ister)> occurrences per million words & over 722 over 422 over 922 over 12 over 42 E:F DE# F<%? AEAG Q activity intransitive come on L & etup >i sPt down ;r; vi et out II; RS come over TJi stand up U o off ? 7 shut up Kl come alon S6 f:
sit up T7 o ahead activity transitive etin V7 <? m pickup a be m put on W7 I ?i s 5 make up a I 59 iX carry out sss take up i ss 9 take on a ai a et back I? 7 et off m W look up set up XX 9 take off = take over 7 mental transitive fPnd Y s out $Qe up i 77 comtnunication transitive point out 7 i occurrence 17 ? i intransitive come off run out ZT copular R9 9 i turn out aspectual intransitive ?ai a o on [ou o and sit down\ "conv) ?hut up\ ]ust for et it. "conv) Ao off to bed now. "conv) Fo, don;t et up. "fict) 9 ?tand up strai ht\ +eople are lookin \ "fict) Further, in declarative dauses these intransitive phrasal verbs tend to have human sub!ects: Fo, he cante over to the study. "conv) (e would et up at daybreak. "fict) Erowe sat up and stared at Frederica. "fict) $ sat down behind my desk. "fict) 0y far the most common phrasal verb in any re ister is intransitive come on as used in conversation. #his verb has three ma!or functions: Asan e)damatory e)hortation to act: Eome on, let Andy do it. "conv) I mean, come on, it;s a bit obvious. "conv) As a pre&departure summons to move: Eome on, we better o. "conv) Eome on, let;s o. "conv) =eanin ;to start; or ;become activated;: #he heatin didn;t come on this mornin . "conv) (as that !ust come onX "conv) #he combination o on is the most common phrasal verb overall in the @?%< Eorpus. #his phrasal verb is common in all four re isters, servin a number of different functions: As an e)damatory e)hortation to act "like come on above): Ao on. ?tamp on it. "conv) It;s alri ht, rub it in. Ao on\ "conv) #o mark continued pro ression of a physical activity: I !ust i nored her and went on. I didn;t have time to talk. "conv) #o mark continuation of some eneral action "intransitive): If it failed once, there;s no point in oin on. "fict)
As time went on, @iebi developed his thesis. "acad]) #o mark continuation of some eneral action "transitive, takin a complement in & or fo&infinitive dause as direct ob!ect): @abour would o on ettin the public;s support by constructin stron unity ofpurpose. "F<%sf) 0!omsson went on to study the newspapers of 99 countries. "acad) #o mark unspecified activity, with a meanin similar to ;happen;: #hink what;s oin on. It;s dreadfu@ "fict) #here;s such and such oin on. "conv) #ransitive phrasal verbs are more evenly distributed across re isters. For e)ample, verbs such as put on, make up, and finaB out are relatively common in both conversation and the written e)pository re isters: ?ome people they rcad the top bit and read the bottom bit, and sort of make up the bit in the middle. "conv) 0ecause you tni ht find out it works. "conv) (aven;t you found that out yetX "fict) (e put on his business suit and coat. "fict) $ haven;t even been able to put my socks on. "news!) For the modern mathematician these numbers would make up the ordered pair "QI, Q4). "acad) A ainst the eneral trend, a few transitive phrasal verbs are even more common in written e)position than in conversation. #hese include carry out, take up, take on, set up, and point out. It is common practice to carry out a series of desi n point calculations. "acad f) #he rule also affected (enry Eotton, who took up the post at Doyal %aterloo, 0el ium, in 9577. "news!) %hen the ?panish arm of the operation needed assistance he was asked to take on a supervisory role, "news) #he <I# was set up last year to help fund university research. "news ^) Aushchin "9571) pointed out many of the weaknesses of these attempts. "acad f) Finally, the combination turn out "discussed further in 6.6) is unusual in that it is a phrasal verb that can function as a copular verb: Gidn;t my little pecan tartlets turn out very ]ulia Eharles, "conv) Auntie =ad e and ]o would have several fits if any of us turned out sneaks. "fict) 6.7.4.1 +roductivity of particular verbs and adverbial particles E:D+,? F9FGIFA? 4 H& A few le)ical verbs are particularly productive in combinin with adverbial particles to form phrasal verbs that occur fre'uently "see #able 6.96). H& =ost of these verbs are additionally productive in formin a lar e number of different phrasal verbs. HI In addition, a few adverbial particles are particularly productive in combinin with le)ical verbs to form common phrasal verbs "see #able 6.98). GI?E,??I:F :F FtFGIFA? #he verbs that are most productive in combinin with adverbial particles to form phrasal verbs are amon the most common le)ical verbs in their own ri ht. #hese e)tremely common verbs*take, et, come, put, o*are also unusually polysemous, so that they can combine with a ran e of adverbial particles: le)ical verb selected adverbial particles take + apart, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, up et + alon , around, away, back, down, in, off, on, out, throu h, up come + about, across, alon , around, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, up put + across, away, back, down, forward, in, off, on, out, over, throu h, up o + about, alon down, in, off, on, out, over, throu h, up #his list also shows how a few adverbial particles are particularly productive in combinin with le)ical verbs to form phrasal verbs. A]_ of the most productive verbs of #able 6.96 combine with the most productive particles listed in #able 6.98. #able 6.96 Fumber of phrasal verb types formed with ei ht common verbs le)ical common phrasal total phrasal verb verbs "over 92 per verbs listed in million) @G:E< take N 5 et 8 93
put 6 96 come 1 93 o 7 96 set 7 92 turn 4 92 brin 4 94 #able 6.98 Fumber of phrasal verb types formed with si) common adverbial particles adverbial common partide phrasal verbs up 9N out 91 on 5 in 5 off 6 down 7 6.7.7 +repositional verbs Ail prepositional verbs take a prepositional ob!ect, i.e. the noun phrase occurrin after the preposition "shown in brackets in the e)amples below). #here are two ma!or structural patterns for prepositional verbs: +attern 9: F+ + verb + preposition + F+ It !ust looks like `the barrela. "conv) #ve never even ihou ht about ìta. "conv) 0ritannia said he had asked for `permission to see the fli ht decka. "news) A new telephone hotline will be established by [ork Eity Eouncil to deal with `parkin problems in the 0arbican .reaa, "news) +artera 4: F+ 1& verb + F+ + preposition + F+ Fo, they like to accuse women of `bein mechanically inepta. "coFvf) (e said farewell to ùsa on this very spot, "fict) 0ut =cAau hey bases his prediction on `first&hand e)periencea, "news f) For e)ample, the ;library mana er; reminded members of `the procedures for orderin library stocka. "acad^) +attern 4 is also common with passive verbs, where the noun phrase correspondin to the direct ob!ect has been placed in sub!ect position "8.1, 99.7): I think the media is falsely accused of à lot of thin sa. "coFvf) cf. +eople falsely accuse the media of à lot of thin sa. #he initiative is based on à ?cottish schemea. "news f) cf. ?omeone based the initiative on à ?cottish schemea. +repositional verbs have two competin structural analyses. :n the one hand, they can be treated as simple le)ical verbs followed by a prepositional phrase functionin as an adverbial "as in Ehapter 92). #his analysis is supported by the fact that it is usually possible to insert another adverbial between the verb and the prepositional phrase in +attern 9: ?he looked e)actly like `bathleen Eleavera. "fict) I never thou ht much about ìta. "fict) (owever, the verb plus preposition can also be considered as a sin le unit*a ;prepositional verb;. From this perspective, the noun phrase followin the preposition is analyCed as the ob!ect of the prepositional verb. :ne piece of evidence supportin this interpretation is the fact that, for many +attern 9 prepositional verbs, the verb + preposition functions as a sin le semantic unit, with a meanin that cannot be derived completely from the individual meanin s of the two parts. #hese two&word verbal units can often be replaced by a simple transitive verb with a similar meanin "6.7.9): looks like `the barrela &LI resembles the barrel thou ht about ìta &LI considered it asked for `permissiona &LI re'uested permission deal with `parkin problemsa &LI handle parkin problems I won;t stand for ìta &LI $ won;t tolcrate it :ther structural ar uments supportin this interpretation, includin wft& 'uestion formation, are iven in 6.7.9 and 7.6.6. ?emantic domains of prepositional verbs @ike other verb cate ories, prepositional verbs can be classified by semantic domain based on their core meanin s, with many common prepositional verbs bein polysemous. #his is especially the case with activity verbs often used to refer to mental activities> for e)ample, deal with, et into, o throu h, look at, return to, arrive at, en a e in, et at, et throu h, look into, derive F+ from, reduce F+ to, take F+ as, take F+ for.
Further, it is important to keep in mind that many of the combinations used as prepositional verbs can also function as phrasal verbs or free combinations "6.7.9.9). For e)ample come from, apart from its use as a prepositional verb, is also common as a free combination in conversation and fiction. Furthermore, some prepositional verbs occur with both +atterns 9 and 4> for e)ample, apply to, connect "F+] with, provide "F+) for, ask "F+) for, hear "F+) about, know "F+] about: +attern 9 9 #he re idations abo apply to new buildin s. "news f) +attern 4 #hey were cosmolo ists wrestlin to apply 'uantum mechanics to <instein;s eneral theory of rclativity. "acad) +attern 9 0ut #ve asked for much too much already. "fict) +attern 4 (e asked ?tan for a !ob. "conv) #he counts in the followin sections are based on occurrences of these combinations as prepositional verbs. #he passive altemative of +attern 4 is cited where this is more common than the active, althou h both alternatives are induded in the counts. 6.7.7.4 De ister distribution of prepositional verbs E:D+,? F]FGIFA? 4 H& +repositional verbs are relatively common in all four re isters, occurrin almost 6,222 times per million words. H& #hey are particularly common in fiction. HI +repositional verbs are three to four times more common than phrasal verbs "cf. #able 6.97). #able 6.9N :verall fre'uency of prepositional verbs across re isters> per million words each L represents 422 conv dsd55LLPPe5middP](ddLPtR fict d5P5PL5RdLLePdPd551edLPdRPPd1LR F<%? acad LLReLddLdR55RddRsRsdL GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? Eompared with the distributional profile of verbs in eneral "Fi ure 6.1), fiction stands out as havin an especially hi h fre'uency of prepositional verbs "see also 6.7.7.7). #he fact that prepositional verbs are relativeh$ common in academic prose shows that they do not have the same informal overtones as phrasal verbs. +repositional verbs have a hi her fre'uency than phrasal verbs. +hrasal verbs have a limited set of adverbial particles available for their formation "6.7.4.1), all denotin location or direction. +repositional verbs, on the other hand, draw on the full set of prepositions, includin important forms denotin non&spatial relations, such as as, with, for, and of. 6.7.7.7 #he most common prepositional verbs H& #here are marked differences in the common prepositional verbs across re isters "see #able 6.93). H #he verb look at, with its e)treme fre'uency in conversation and fiction, is the sin le most common prepositional verb overall. HI ?ay to F+ + 'uote is also e)tremely common in conversation "and to a lesser e)tent in fiction). H ?evera\ other prepositional verbs are particularly common: JIH& in fiction*think of, X& in academic prose*be used in, depend on, be based on, be associated with. H& #here are numerous common prepositional verbs in all domains e)cept aspectual. #able 6.93 +repositional verbs by semantic domain across re isters "includin all prepositional verbs that occur over 12 times per million words in at least one re ister)> occurrences per million words ==if%V over 122 SeiiY?ii over 722 over 422 il.l over 922 PlP over 12 i over 42 semantic E:FQ FIE# F<%? AEAG domain activity verb + h F+ +attern 9: preposition h look at ?, s m a look for m na. m IS o for m m o throu h mi m m
watt for m m dea\ with m pay for ; sa i et into m W7 tum to Y7; play with 5 9 stare at lance at 7 smiQe at ? p$ay for serve as activity +attern 4: verb + F+ + preposition + F+ be applied to be used in do F+ for = I be made of Y be aimed at send F+ to ive F+ to be derived from fill F+ with ?P #able 6.93 continued semantic E:FQ FIE# domain be accused of be char ed with be !ailed for be divided into obtain F+ from use F+ as communicati +attern 9: verb + preposition + on F+ talk to talk about f mU speak to s m ask for i T? refer to 4 write to 5 7 speak of cali for communicati +attern 4: verb + F+ + on preposition + F+ say to F+ + huote $say F+ to ?0ffiPffl? i lZi= be e)pressed in mental +attern 9: verb + preposition + F+ think of
f 73 m i 3 m
?? a
I? i
i ?I s 7 9 i m gZ
F<%? AEAG
V ;I&d ;;i 64
! c. m MP I0
= n
think about m m listen to m m O worry about 7 W7 know about = = hear of i f add to believe in = occur to Y mental +attern 4: verb + F+ + preposition + F+ be known as be seen in 9 be re arded as be seen as be considered as be defPned as causative +attern 9: verb + preposition + F+ lead to s come from 5
i 7
;i
m i i
0?I 99
a ?P P7
TZ Ita ?c
ss
result in jW contribute to ?I allow for ?t depend on S ; &S .S.Q. belon to IZ R S6 account for 7 2 consist of Ps7 differ from 97 e)istence or relationship +attern 4: verb + F+ +J preposition + F+ be based on be involved in a?i T7 be associated with ??.? be related to j 673 be included in 7 = be composed of fW :ther common verbs "over ten occurrences per million words) J Activity verbs*+attern 9 apply for, arrive at, break into, connect with, en a e in, et at, et over, et throu h, o on, lau h at, look after, look into, meet with, point to, stay with, succeed in, suffer from, work at, work for, work on, work with J Activity verbs*+attem 4 attach F+ to, do F+ about, keep F+ in, make F+ for, make F+ from, place F+ in, provide F+ for, put F+ into, put F+ on, reduce F+ to, spend F+ on, take F+ from, use F+ for J Eommunication verbs*+attern 9 bet on, respond to J Eommunication verbs*+attern 4 e)plain F+ to, say F+ about J =ental verbs*+attern 9 a ree with, conceive of, conccntrate on, cope with, feel like, hear about, know of, sound like J =ental verbs*+attern 4 add F+ to, be faced with, hear F+ from J E.usative verbs*+attern 9 cali for #able 6.93 continued
semantic domain conv Fia news acad c.usative +attern 4: verb + F+ + preposition + F+ be re'uired for occurrence +attern 9: verb + preposition + F+ look like .& & ;;I happen to occur in i: I e)istence or relationship +attern 9: verb 1& preposition + F+ J :ccurrence verbs*+attern 9 fall into, run into J :ccurrence verbs*+attern 4 be covered with 9 J <)istence or relationship verbs*+attern 9 refer to "over 12 occurrences per million words) ,ve with, rely on, stand for J <)istence or relationship verbs*+attern 4 be compared with, be involved with J Aspectual verbs*+attern 9 be in with, enter into, start with In conversation and fiction, most common prepositional verbs are activity, communication, or mental verbs "see #able 6.95). In contrast, nearly half of all common prepositional verbs in academic prose belon to the c.usative and e)istence verb domains. H& Academic prose also has many common activity and mental prepositional verbs. Gistribution of prepositional verbs across semantic domains, as a percenta e of all common prepositional verbs in each re ister "based on the re ister distributions of #able 6.93> number of verbs iven in parentheses) semantic domain conv fict news acad activity 73O "5) 19O "98 19O "93 77O "91 ) ) ) communicati 46O "8) 49O "3) 98O "3) 6O "4) on mental 46O "8) 47O "5) 93O "3) 95O "3) c.usative 2O "2) 6O "4) 6O "4) 91O "8) occurrence 3O "4) 6O "4) 4O "9) 7O "9) e)istence 1O "G 6O "4) 98O "N) 48O "99 ) total 922O "41 922 "75 922 "11 922 "14 ) O ) O ) O ) H Activity verbs and mental verbs are well represented in all re isters, but there is a marked difference in their use of the two structural patterns "see #able 6.42): HI Eonversation and fiction have a very stron preference for +attern 9, with a sin le ob!ect "verb + preposition 1& F+). H& Academic prose has the opposite preference for +attern 4, with double ob!ects "verb 1& F+ 1& preposition 1& F+)> this pattern fre'uentPy occurs in the passive versi/n: passive verb 1& preposition 1& F+. G9?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? 0ecause of the topics and purposes typical of conversation and fiction, these re isters have many common prepositional verbs that are activity, communication, or mental verbs "similar to the distribution of sin le word verbs> 6.4.9.7). #he most common of all, look at, is used in two main ways. #o direct the attention of others: @ook at that reat bi tree stuck under the brid el "conv) @ook at me. "fict) #able 6.95 #able 6.42 Gistribution of prepositional verbs across structural patterns, as a percenta e of all common prepositional verbs in each re ister "based on the re ister distributions of #able 6.93> number of verbs iven in parentheses) valency pattern E: FIE F< AEA FQ # %? G +attern 9: 54O "44 3NO "71 81O "43 17O "93 verb + preposition + F+ ) ) ) )
92
922 "41 922 "75 922 "11 922 "14 O ) O ) O ) O ) #o describe actions involvin si ht: I want to look at the anim.is, "conv) (e ain;t lookin at her, is heX "conv) I looked at that and thou ht it would be nice. "conv) #he boys looked at each other tearfully unbelievin . "fict) #he communication verb say F+ to F+ is also very common, especially in conversation but also in fiction. #his prepositional verb is used to report the contenP of speech "the direct ob!ect), while also identifyin the addressee "the prepositional ob!ect). In many e)amples with say to, a clause is used to report what was said> this clause is often postponed to final position followin the principie of end wei ht "99.9.7): I said to Dussell Ì will never ever take speeda. "conv) I keep sayin to =ichael ìt;s so e)pensive). "conv) Anyway, I says to Gi `Qm not doin any in thisa. "conv) In some e)amples, the 'uoted speech is actually iven as a sep.rate main clause "cf. 7.99.6, 99.4.7.8&N): `%owa, Isidore said to himself. Ìt really sounds as if it;s dyin a. "fict) In conversation, this construction is often spread across two complete clauses with say. the first identifies the addressee and the second reports the speech 'uote: Gid you hear what that man said to his little irlX (e said, òh look, there;s two boys and a irla. "conv) I said to Fick, I said Ì bet somethin happens at the balla. "conv) 0eyond these two especially fre'uent verbs, conversation and fiction use a number of other common prepositional verbs to mark physical activities, communication acts, and mental processes. Activity: Eouldn;t he !ust put it in hisbean ba X "conv) +ity we couldn;t o for a romp around a canal, isn;t itX "conv) +atrice held her breath, waitin for @ettie;s reply. "fict) (e stared at me blankly, unbelievin ly. "fict) BP am lookin for a manB the lieutenant said. "fict) Eommunication: ]ust talk to her. "conv) $ was talkin about the oPd sort of diesel mltiple unit. "conv) (e spoke to +aul in a bitter, controlled tone. "fict^) =ental: %hat did they think of the brochure thenX "conv) And then of course I always thou ht of @aurel "piE#f) $ was thinkin about the play roup downstairs. "conv) 9 ?ince when does nobody listen to youX "conv) Academic prose also uses severa\ common prepositional verbs markin physical activities and mental states. (owever, these are mostly verbs that take the double ob!ect +attern 4, and they are typically used in the passive voice. #he most common of these is the prepositional verb use F+ in: %e will continuc to use #able 6.4 in out economic analysis. "acad^) Followin the typical pattern, this verb is much more common in the passive voice: kbe) used in. As is usual in the passive, the a ent of the verb*the person doin the ;usin ;*is not specified. Dather, the thin bein used is iven prominence in relation to some particular use: It can also sometimes be used to si nify a disinfectin a ent used in a weaker concentration. "acad^) #he models of community used in this ar ument are ideal in several ways. "acad) 0ecause academic writin focuses on the relations amon inanimate entities, rather than the anPmate a ent performin actions, there is a stron preference for usin +attern 4 prepositional verbs in the passive voice, often with a precedin modal verb. #he followin are other e)amples: Activity verbs: For e)ample, the =essa e #ype can be derived from its infernal structure. "acad) ?imilarly other parPs of the body may be used as bases to start from. "acad\) #he method outlined could now be applied to a selected number of points alon the blade len th. "acad) =ental verbs: #his induced mustiness is known as ?ierra rice, "acad) #he electr/n may be re arded as a tiny mass carryin a ne ative char e. "AEAGf) All members of the specified Dole Elass are considered as possible senders of
+attern 4: verb + F+ + preposition + F+ total
3O
"4) 97O "6) 78O "98 6NO "41 ) )
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the received messa e. "acad^) For similar reasons, academic prose uses a number of common prepositional verbs of causation and e)istence, in addition to the verb occur in> these verbs typically show relations amon entities rather than describin actions. Eausative verbs: Further e)perimentation mi ht lead to the identification of other diffkulty factors. "acad^) Deplacin the nonsense stems by <n lish stems would have resulted in a rammatically corred se'uence. "acad\) +atrons and brokers contributed to the widespread belief that a wastah "an intermediary) was the necessary means to contact. "acad) E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 4 HJ A few le)ical verbs combine with mltiple prepositions to form common prepositional verbs, but "unlike the case of phrasal verbs) none of these verbs is particularly productive "see #able 6.49). HJ In contrast, some prepositions are very productive in combinin with le)ical verbs to form prepositional verbs "see #able 6.44). #able 6.49 Fumber of prepositional verb types formed with seven common verbs> based on all prepositional verbs occurrin more than 92 times per million words le)ical verb prepositional verbs et 6 look 6 work 1 o 7 know 7 hear 7 use 7 GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? #he most productive word forms used for prepositional verbs tend to be different from those used for phrasal verbs. :nly the verbs et and o overlap on the two lists, while only in and on are productive as both adverbial particle and preposition. In eneral, there are a lar e number of verbs used to form prepositional verbs, and these are distributed widely across semantic domains. (owever, few individual verbs are very fre'uent or productive. In contrast, the verbs used to form phrasal verbs primarily refer to physical activities, and a few of these verbs are particularly fre'uent and productive. #here is a similar contrast in the particles$prepositions used in these combinations. %hile all adverbial particles used with phrasal verbs have spatial$locative core meanin s, a much wider ran e of prepositions is used to form prepositional verbs. <)istence verbs: It will depend on the purpose of, and audience for, the writin . "acad) =ental models related to the physical domain are therefore in eneral necessary. "acad\) :ccurrence verbs: It occurs in many man anese ore bodies and is usually associated with metasomatic activity. "acad) 6.7.7.1 +roductivity of particular verbs and prepositions #able 6.44 Fumber of prepositional verb types formed with 92 common prepositions> based on aii prepositional verbs occurrin more than 92 times per million words preposition prepositional verbs to 49 with 91 for 98 in 97 on 94 into N about 8 of 8 at 8 as p. 6 6.7.1 +hrasal&prepositional verbs
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#he third ma!or type of multi&word verb has characteristics of both phrasal and prepositional verbs: phrasal& prepositional verbs consist of a le)ical verb combined with an adverbial particle plus a preposition. As with prepositional verbs "6.7.9, 6.7.7), the complement of the preposition in these constructions functions as the direct ob!ect of the phrasal&prepositional verb "shown in à below). #here are two ma!or structural patterns for phrasal& prepositional verbs. +attern 9: F+ 1& verb 1& particle 1& preposition + F+: :h I shall look forward to `thisa now. "conv) 0ut since there was no other mili, people had to put up with `such treatmenta. "fict) +erhaps I can et out of ìta without havin to tell her anythin . "fict) Fo one has been oble to come up with à product as lucrative and easy to market as opiuma. "F<%sf) +attern 4: F+ 1& verb 1& F+ 1& particle 1& preposition 1& F+: I could hand him over to `?adi'a. "fict) :nly a few phrasal&prepositional verbs can take two ob!ects. Another is put F+ up roF+. +hrasal&prepositional verbs function as a semantic unit and can sometimes be replaced by a sin le transitive le)ical verb with similar meanin : put up with `such treatmenta &LI tolcrate `such treatmenta et out of ìta &HI avoid ìta look forward to `thisa &LI anticPpate `thisa. 6.7.1.9 De ister distribution of phrasal&prepositional verbs #able 6.47 E:D+,? FIFGIFA? #he overall fre'uency of phrasal&prepositional verbs is here or aniCed by semantic domain. As before, the passive variant is cited if that is more common than the active. +hrasal&prepositional verbs are somewhat more common in conversation and fiction, but they are particularly rare in academic prose "only about 62 per million words> see #able 6.47). In comparison with phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs, phrasal&prepositional verbs are enerally rare "see #able 6.41). :verall fre'uency of phrasal&prepositional verbs across re isters> occurrences per million words each & represents 62 conv fict Jv &,P Ti &i new s acad &H #able 6.41 :verall corpus fre'uency of multi&word verb types> occurrences per million words each HP represents 922 phrasal verbs prepositional verbs phrasal&prepositional verbs &a g L 2B JL . d L &V d L e L &a as L L idR &.H tXH L sH Pi GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? Althou h phrasal&prepositional verbs are similar to prepositional verbs in their valency patterns, their re ister distribution is more similar to phrasal verbs "cf. #ables 6.97, 6.9N, and 6.47). In particular, both phrasal verbs and phrasal&prepositional verbs are notably rare in academic prose. As the followin sections show, phrasal& prepositional verbs are also similar to phrasal verbs in bein used primarily for physical activities, in contrast to the wide ran e of meanin s associated with prepositional verbs. #he relative absence of phrasal&prepositional verbs in the occurrence, e)istence, and causative domains helps to account for their rarity in academic prose. 7.1.4 #he most common phrasal&prepositional verbs E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 4 H& =ost common phrasal&prepositional verbs are activity verbs "see #able 6.46). #he most fre'uent verb overall is et out of. Eome out of and et back to are also relatively fre'uent. H& In the mental domain, look forward to is the most common verb. H Qery few phrasal&prepositional verbs are used commonly with two ob!ects "+attern 4)> however, two passive verbs occur with modcrate fre'uency in academic prose: be set up in and be set out in. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? =ost common phrasal&prepositional verbs are activity verbs, especially in conversation and fiction. #he combination et out of is the most fre'uent, with two ma!or uses. Imperative: ]ust et out of my way. "conv) Aet out of there. "conv) Geclarative:
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%e have to et out ofhere. "fict) ?everal other activity phrasal&prepositional verbs are relatively common in these two re isters: I;ve never heard a word come out of her mouth. "conv) [ou can o up to full beam, can t youX "conv) ?top yakkin and et on with it\ "conv) :mi carne out ofhis revene. "Ficrf) (e said he would et back to me +.=. "fict) 0urns went up to the soldiers and started talkin . "fict) Apart from these activity verbs, only the mental verb look forward to is relatively common across re isters, occurrin especially in fiction and news: ?he had been lookin forward to this moment. "fict) In the case of news reporta e, this verb typically occurs in direct or reported speech: %e are lookin forward to the ome "news) (e said he was lookin forward to the results of the in'uiry. "news^) #wo other phrasal&prepositional verbs are relatively common in news reporta e* et back to and come up with: It;s oin to take time for you to et back to full stren th. "news) #he panel will be asked to come up with the best all&time team on earth. "news) Finally, althou h phrasal&prepositional verbs are enerally rare in academic prose, the sin le verb be set out in kset F+ out in) is commonly used to identify the source of information: #hese pro!ect ob!ectives were set out in the first pro!ect report. "acad) #here are three forms of statutory demand set out in ?chedule 1. "AEAGf) #able 6.46 +hrasal&prepositional verbs by semantic domain across re isters, includin all prepositional verbs that occur over 92 times per million words in at least one re ister occurrences per million words & over 12 over 42 . over 92 semantic domain E:FQ FIE# F<%? AEAG activity et out of J;J H come out of &&J i & et back to &S ; &IBI;T oupto et on with Ji et away with et off at V et off with &7 o out for 3 caten up with P! et away from h o over to P hold on to turn away from turn back to i be set up in O other attested verbs: come in for, et back into, o alon with, hand F+ over to, keep up with, look out for communication come out with other attested verbs: brin F+ up in
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mental look forward to L m a come up with I put up with a 7& other attested verbs: ive in to oceurrence come down to a I e)istence be set out in other attested verbs: be made up of, be cut off from #able 6.46 continued semantic domain conv fict news acad causativo attested verbs: end up with aspectual attested verbs: o on to, move on to 6.7.6 :ther multi&word verb constructions In addition to phrasal and prepositional verbs, there are three ma!or types of idiomatic multi&word verb constructions: J verb + prepositional phrase combinations J verb + verb combinations J verb + noun phrase combinations. #hese combinations are introduced here but illustrated more fully in 97.7&1. A Qerb + prepositional phrase combinations First, several verb + prepositional phrase combinations have idiomatic status. #hese indude combinations like bear in mina, come as a surprise, fall in love, take into account, and take into consideration. ?uch combinations function semantically as a coherent unit that can often be replaced by a sin le le)ical verb "cf. 6.7.90): bear in mind &l remember come as a surprise &LI surprise take into account $ take into consideration &L consider. For e)ample: I also have to bear in mind the interests of my wife and family. "F<wsf) #he triumph carne as a surprise to many. "news) [ou have to take into account where the youn er shoots are dominant. "fict) #he or aniCation had to take into consideration human feelin s and actitudes, "acad!&) 0 Qerb + verb combinations A second idiomatic cate ory involves verb + verb combinations, such as make do "with) and let F+ o$be. [ou have to make do, dont youX "conv) +atients had to make do with 'uiche or ham salad, "news f) (e was Bvery reluctantB to ]et him o. "news!) $ think it is time to let it be. "news) E Qerb + noun phrase combinations #hird, there are a few semantically li ht verbs*such as take, make, have, and do*that combine with noun phrases to form set verbal e)pressions. In many cases, the combination also includes a followin preposition: [es, Qil take care of it. "fict) It wilt take time to cut costs in the ac'uisitions. "news) 0ut you know how you make fun of me sometimes. "conv) %e don;t have a chance, "news)
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Go you want me to do your hairX "conv) #he verbs in such e)amples can be followed by a deverbal noun, so that the verb + noun combination can sometimes be paraphrased by a simple verb correspondin to the noun: (ow can she make a bet on an unpublished authorX "acad!) cf. (ow can she bet on an unpublished authorX (owever, in more idiomatic e)amples of this type, the alternative versi/n does not mean the same: (e went to the darkness of the bathroom to take a le.k. "Ficrf) cf. (e went to the darkness of the bathroom to leak. 6.1 =ain and au)iliary functions of primary verbs #he three primary verbs*be, have, and do*can serve as botli main verbs and au)iliary verbs. #hey differ, however, in their particular main and au)iliary functions. 6.1.9 0e As a main verb, be is the most hnportant copular verb in <n lish, servin to link the sub!ect noun phrase with a sub!ect predicative or obli atory adverbial "see also 7.6.4&7, 6.9.4, 6.6): ; ; ?Q+?"F+) [ou drank coffee like it was `watera, "conv) ?Q+s"Ad!+) #he odds are `favourable enou ha. "news f) ?QAE %ell that;s how we ot ac'uainted so well because she was ìn :lie;s rooma a lot. "conv) As an au)iliary verb, be has two distinct functions: markin pro ressive aspect and passive voice: +ro ressive aspect: [ou;re oin so slow. "conv) #he last li ht was fadin by the time he entered the town. "fict) +assive voice: ?hareholders will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible. "news) <ach is callea a path or a history. "acad) #hese two au)iliary uses of be can occur to ether in the same dause: A mutual investment fund for <astern <urope is bein launched today with the backin of Eontinental Arain. "news^) +ro ressive aspect and passive voice verbs are discussed further in 8.7 and 8.1. k0e is also a component of the semi&modal verb be oin to> 8.8.) .1.4 (ave As a transitive main verb, have is as common as the most fre'uent le)ical verbs in <n lish "6.4.4). Across the four re isters, have is most common in conversation and least common in academic prose. %ithin academic prose, thou h, have is more common than any of the le)ical verbs. In the same way as et, the main verb have can be used with various meanin s markin many different kinds of lo ical relations. +hysical possession: :ne in three of these families has two cars. "news) #hey had three tons of su ar. "fict !) Family connection: (er story was this: she had a husband and child. "fict) ]im is a ed 12 and has two children. "news!) Food consumption: #he kids had Bsuperhero sundaesB which turned out to be merely ice cream. "news B]: <)istential "cf. 99.1.5): 0ut it really would be nice to have a youn person about the house a ain. "fict) cf. It would be nice if there was a youn person about the house. @inkin a person to some abstract 'uality: [ou re onna have problems with your.feet. "conv) %ill you have enou h to doX "conv) $ hope she has fun. "conv) I had moments of indecisi/n when I wanted to distribute the oran e. "fict) (er visitor had a stron pun ent odor of a winters doy. "fict) @inkin an inanimate sub!ect to some abstract 'uality: In practical terms, the ates and fences probably have little advanta e over the waist&hi h barrier. "news I) ?tylistics can have other oals than this. "acad\) In these e)tensions soil science will always have a ma!or role, "acad!) =arkin causation: #he problem contines to be that a reli ious&fascist state wishes to hire professional terrorists to have me killed. "news) Also the verb have has mar inal semi&modal status in the e)pression have to "8.8.4): Qil have to blank it out. "conv) #here are many ood and prosperous people here. "Ficrt) (er former lover is a ood and supportive friend. "F<wsf) 0ut, to 'uote one of =a ie;s very own ood and faithful servants M...H "F<%?f)
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Fote that the attributive "non&intensifyin ) uses tend to combine ood with another ad!ective carryin favorable connotations "e. . faithful, prosperous), whereas predicative uses favor ad!ectives carryin ne ative connotations "e. . sorry, sick). %ith nice, the intensifyin use holds for favorable and unfavorable ad!ectives alike. In both 0r< and Am< conversation, nice and is far more fre'uent than ood and. #here are over 72 occurrences per million words for nice and + ad!ective v. only about two occurrences per million words for ood and + ad!ective. N.99 :verview of adverbs In a clause, adverbs can either be inte rated into an element of the clause or function themselves as an element of the clause. In the first case, the adverbs serve as modifiers> in the second, they are adverbials. =ost commonly, adverbs that are inte rated into another element of the clause modify an ad!ective or another adverb, as in the followin e)amples "the modified word is marked with à);I 9 I am almost `positivea she borrowed that off 0arbie\ "conv) 4 First, health service mana ers must be able to price their services reasonably àccuratelya for tradin purposes. "news) In 9 the adverb almost modifies the ad!ective positive, while in 4 the adverb reasonably modifies the adverb accurately. In contrast, e)amples 7 and 1 Alstrate adverbs that are themselves elements of the clause: 7 I think she;ll be married shortly. "conv) 1 +ossibly the %esleyan Ehurch tolerated outside unions uno!ficially, in a way that the An lican Ehurch did not. "acad) In 7 the adverb shortly provides further information about the time for the entire clause she;ll be married. In 1 possibly conveys the level of certainty for the entire followin clause. #hus, these adverbs are not inte rated into another element within the clause> rather, they are adverbials. It is important to note that the same adverbs that function as modifiers can also function as adverbials. For e)ample, the adverbs in 6 and N are modifiers, while the same adverbs in 8 and 3 are adverbials: 6 #o put on a rey shirt once more was stran ely `pleasin a. "fict) 8 ?tran ely, it is in this .rea that the reatest fears concernin EAG e)ist. "acad) N #his apparently complicated e)pression for pull&out tor'ue ives the surprisin ly `simplea characteristic shown in Fi 6.3. "acad) 3 ?urprisin ly, the choked voice resumes, "fict) #he overall distribution of adverbs and ad!ectives across re isters is discussed in 4.7.6 "see Fi ures 4.7 and 4.1) and in N.9. #he followin sections discuss adverbs in terms of their forms "N.7.4), their syntactic roles "N.7.7), and their semantic cate ories "N.7.1). Adverbials are dealt with in detail in Ehapter 92, which includes an account of the use of adverbs as adverbials. #hus, althou h this section introduces information about adverbs as adverbials, we conccntrete here on structural information about adverbs and on ftndin s related to the use of adverbs as modifiers. Adverbs are sometimes characteriCed as endin in &ly. %hile this is true of some adverbs, the class is far more diverse in form. #here are four ma!or formal cate ories of adverbs, and each cate ory also contains substantial variation within it. ?imple adverbs are sin le words that are not formed from compounds or derivational affi)es. <)amples include well, too, rather, 'uite, soon, and here. :ther simple adverbs are clearly related to other word classes: fast and lon can be ad!ectives> down and round can be used as prepositions "but contrast these forms with adverbial particles> 4.1.8)> today and tomorrow can be used as nouns. In addition, some simple adverbs ori inated as compounds, but the independent meanin of the two parts is no lon er transparent "e. . already, indeed). 0 Eompound adverbs Eompound adverbs are formed by combinin two or more elements into a sin le word. <)amples include adverbs such as anyway "any + way), nowhere kno + where), and heretofore khere + to + fore). E Adverbs derived by suffP)ation =any adverbs are formed by suffi)in &ly to the base form of an ad!ective, such as clearly formed from the ad!ective clear. Fote, however, that not all adverbs endin in &$y are formed by the addition of &ly to an ad!ectival form. ?ome adverbs are derived from ad!ectives that already end in &ly. e. . weekly, fatherly. In these cases the adverb is normally formed by Cero derivation, i.e. by addin nothin to the ad!ective form: weekly, not Lweeklily, fatherly not Lfatherlily. #he productivity of the &ly suffi) can be seen from some unusual &ly adverbs used in both spoken and written te)ts. <ven the e)pository re isters, rarely thou ht of as showin E#eatrvity, include rare adverbs derived from ad!ectives with an &ly suffi). <)amples include: :h yes, it went very !ollify. "conv)
9N
[ou;re doin spif!ily. "conv) <very 42 minutes or so, the phiy uffawin ly alludes to the non&arrival of some lon &ordered calculators. "news) Ehannel 1 has in any case taken on the mantle of the senator for adult&intelli ent viewin : in other words, the place where you can watch randily beneath a thinnish veneer of knowled e and a deeper understandin of self. "news) N.94 #he form of adverbs N.94.9 Formation of adverbs A ?imple adverbs All phenols can act bactericidally or fun icidally. "acad!&) #wenty&si) patients with 0arret;s columnar lined lower oesopha us were dia nosed by endoscopio documentation of the s'uamocolumnar !unction bein circumferentially more than 7 cm above. "acad\) In addition to &ly, other suffi)es are used to form adverbs. #wo relatively common ones are &wise and &wards. #he suffi) &wise is added to some nouns "e. . piecewise), and the suffi) &ward"s) to some nouns "e. . homewards, seawards) and prepositions "e. . onward, afterwards). Fi)ed phrases #here are also some fi)ed phrases which are used as adverbs. #hese phrases are invariant in form, and the component words rarely retain their independent meanin . <)amples include of coursey kind of, and at last. N.94.9.9 Adverb forms Eonsiderin all adverb forms that occur over 62 times per million words, Fi ure N.7 breaks down the proportion in each re ister that falls into each class. Fi ure N7 =orphoio ical forms of common adverbs*proportional use by re ister ^ 922 32 82 12 42 E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 94 Eommon adverbs are distributed differ&ently over the four form cate ories, and, more si nificantly, over the four re isters. ?imple forms and &ly suffi)es account for the reatest percenta e of fre'uently occurrin adverbs in all four re isters. ;m& Eonversation and academic prose re&present opposite e)tremes of use: in conversation, over 82O of the common adverbs are simple forms, and only about 42O &ly forms> in academic prose, about 66O of the common adverbs are &ly forms, and sli htly over 72O simple forms. :ther suffi)es, fi)ed phrases, and com&pound forms occur much less commonly in all four re isters. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? ?imple adverbs and &ly adverbs have different comple)ity and typical uses, resultin in their differin distrPbutions across re isters. In conversation, many simple adverbs are adverbials used to establish time or place relationships> they include items such as a ain, always, already, far, here, never, now, soon, still, then, and yet. Eertain modifyin adverbs are also common, such as very, rather, 'uite, and pretty. <)amples include: And a lot of women that are on fertility dru s nowX "conv) 0ut we couldn;t, didnt walk too far today. "conv) It;s 'uite nice yeah yeah. "conv) #hat;s pretty ood. "conv) ^ ^ simple h compourtd ^WT &ly suffi) i ^ other suffi) ( fi)ed phrase In contrast, adverbs formed with the &ly suffi) are mostly derived from ad!ectives. In academic prose, these adverbs are used for a variety of purposes. =any have to do with stance, that is, with the author;s attitude towards the proposition in the clause "cf. 92.7). :ften these forms comment on the likeiihood of aVroposition, its eneraliCability or its e)pectedness, with adverbs such as enerally, possibly, probably, certainiy, and obviously. :bviously this is an overstatement. "acad!) <)pressive movement would be out of place, unprofitable and possibly dan erous. "acad) Mimplyin ;possibly e)pressive movement would be dan erous;H #he second roup contains both brown and rey soils with shallow " enerally
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less than 92 cm) surface horiCons. "acad^) In addition, &ly adverbs in academic prose are used in descriptions of processes or conditions, or in instructions: #he solubility decreases rapidly as the temperature falls. "acad I) #he passa e is almost entirely in third&person narration. "acad) <)amine footnotes carefully. "acad) Academic prose also commonly uses &ly adverbs as modifiers: AcclimatiCation is relatively unimportant. "acad!) #he paper by Gonchin et al. is a particularly ood methodolo ical criti'ue of research in this .rea, "acad) Aenerally these modifiers differ from those typical of conversation, many of which are simple and perceived as appropriate to casual speech "e. . pretty and rather). Also in academic prose, modifiers with &ly suffi)es are used to e)press precisi/n or estimation with measurements: After e)actly five years the tree that had rown up wei hed 985 pounds and about three ounces. "acad) Appro)imately 82 percent of the community are of +olish and Dussian ancestry. "acad^) Gifferences in the choice of modifiers between conversation and academic prose are discussed further in N.97.9.9. It is interestin to note that, overall, fiction also uses many different descriptive &ly adverbs, althou h few of these are notably common "occurrin over 62 times per million words). Dather, fiction shows reat diversity in its use of &ly adverbs. In describin fictPonal events and the actions of fictional characters, writers often use adverbs with specific descriptive meanin s: All three adults i led easily and at everythin , absentmindedly fin erin small silver spoons. "fictB]B) (e was smilin beni nly, almost fatherly, at her. "fict^) #he sli hdy hi her proportion of compound adverbs in conversation and fiction partly reflects a difference in formality and precisi/n between these two re isters and the e)pository written re isters. #he compound adverbs in conversation and fiction tend to e)press va ue meanin s or be informal terms: e. . sometimes, anywhere, everywhere, anyway, and maybe. Fiction also uses compound adverbs to indPcate location, such as inside and upstairs: Qil & puf them somewhere. "conv) If it;s anywhere it;ll be here. "conv) =ama herself would more often than not stand to eat, sometimes out of the pot. "fict!) $ went upstairs uneasily and knocked on his door. "fict) A final point of interest concerns the sli htly reater proportional use of fi)ed phrases in conversation and academic prose over fiction and news. #he specific phrases used in conversation and academic prose are very different, however. Eonversation uses the hed es sort of and kind of as well as forms such as o;dock, at least, and as well. Academic prose, on the other hand, is notable for its forei n phrases "particularly the @atin abbreviatlons @e., e. . and etc.) and linkin adverbials "e. . in eneral, in particular, see 92.1 for more discussion of these). N.94.4 Adverbs and ad!ectives with the same form In some cases, an adverb has the identical form as a related ad!ective. For e)ample, fast is an ad!ective in 9 below, while in 4 it is an adverb. 9 Fast uys tire, a baskeiball coach once said of his own hi h&rise team, but bi uys don;t shrink. "news) 4 :ne looter, a woman who did not run fast enou h, was shot dead. "fict) In addition, particularly in informal situations, forms that are usually used as ad!ectives can sometimes be used as adverbs. In many of these cases, the &ly suffi) of the more accepted adverb form is omitted. For e)ample, the followin adverbs in conversation could instead have the forms slowly, 'uickly, and smoothly. #he bi one went so slow. "conv) %ell it was hot but it didn;t come out 'uick. "conv) #hey want to make sure it runs smooth first. "coFvf) From a prescriptive point of view, this use of the ad!ective form is often sti matiCed as non&standard. (owever, in some instances ; this usa e is widespread, particularly in collo'uial Am< "see #ables N.5 and N.92). In addition, ood is sometimes used as an adverb in place of the prescriptively correct adverb well: #hey o ood with ba y !eans. "conv) BIt;s runnin ood now.B "fict) %hen used as an adverb, ood is typically an adverbial, as in the above e)amples. (owever, other adverbs that have the same form as ad!ectives occur as modifiers. :ne e)ample is the modifier real used in place of the more prescriptively correct really. It carne out real ` ooda. "conv) N.94.4.9 Aood and rea\ as adverbs E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 47 HI Aood is commonly used as an adverb "as an alternative to well) in Am< conversation. #his usa e is rare in 0r< conversation and in the written re isters.
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#able N5 Gistribution of ood functionin as an adverb across re isters and dialects> occurrences per million words each represents c. 92 E represents less than 92 & unattested Tn that De ister 0r< E:FQ Am< E:FQ FIE# F<%? AEAG H& In 0r< conversation, it is very rare for real to be used as a modifier of an ad!ective> the adverb really is very common. HJ In Am< conversation, the adverb really is e)tremely common. H& Deal is also very common as an adverb in Am< conversation, almost as fre'uent as really in 0r< conversation. #able N 92 Gistribution of rea$ and really functionin as adverbs in conversation, across dialects> occurrences per million words each 6,represents c. 42 0r< E:FQ Am< E:FQ real d L L! ML n TL HU& PP tH eit really &t MX M#&;d PH 6RLPf o f IL L Pd iL d i m &3 R d L L R 5 Pf R L L SP H! rH LP L L j GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? :nly Am< conversation has a notable use of ood as an adverb. #his use is rare but attested in 0r< conversation, as well as in fiction and news "in direct speech or 'uotations from interviews). Elearly, this is a casual speech form, favored by Americans. #ypical e)amples include: It!ust worked out ood, didn;t itX "Am< conv) 0ruce ]ackson, In <)cess; trainer said, B(e ran ood, but he runs ood all the time. It was easy.B "Am< news) 0oth 0r< and Am< conversation use really to modify a variety of ad!ectives. #he four most common collocates with really are ood, nice, had, and funny "all occurrin over 42 times per million words): #his looks really ` ooda this little*thin . "0r< conv) 0ut he;s always, he;s always makin really `funnya comments. "0r< conv) [ou couldn;t tell from lookin at him but he was drivin a really `nicea car. "Am< conv) #he alternative is to ,ve with my parents which I know is a bad idea, a really `bada idea. "Am< conv) :n the other hand, only Am< conversation uses real with a variety of ad!ectives. #he most common collocates, occurrin over five times per million words, are: ood, nice, hard, bad, bi , and easy: It would have been real `bada news. "Am< conv) #hat;s one of the real `harda thin s ... "Am< coFvf) ?he;s a real `nicea irl. "Am< conv) Interestin ly, the same speaker may altcrnate between really and real in ci/se pro)imity: $ have a really ` ooda video with a real ` ooda soundtrack. "aiue conv) N.94.7 Eomparative and superlative forms Adverbs can be marked inflectionally for comparative or superlative de ree "e. . fast,f.ster, fastest> hard, harder, hardest). Eomparative and superlative forms are used more commonly for ad!ectives than adverbs "N.N.7). ?uperlative forms are very rarely used as adverbs, while comparative forms are occasionally used. <)amples include: 9 $ !ust kept workin harder and harder "F<%sf) 4 #he creature sank farther, retreatin , turnin . "fict) 7 (e went to the altar every first Friday, sometimes with her, oftener by himself. "fict!) In some cases, an adverb can be made comparative either with the use of more or with the &er inflection. For e)ample, 7 above illustrates the use of oftener where more often could also be used. #his choice appears to be related to re ister and authorial style. :ftener occurs only in fiction, and then is used by only a small number of writers "only seven of the almost 962 fiction authors in the @?%< Eorpus). It occurs in both narrative and dialo : %e didn;t always o to the same bar, but oftener to QPctor s than anywhere else. "fict) B#hanks. I wish it mi ht happen oftener,B said the visitor in his easy arro ant way. "fict) In contrast, the other re isters use only more often: I love ,ve theatre, of course, I really ou ht to o more often. "conv) :ther officials said the sweeps come about once a week, maybe more often. "news ^)
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All of the re isters tend to use more often when the adverb is followed by than: =ore often `thana usual her head looked up as she swam from bank to bank. "fict!) I ; In fact, more often `thana not, it will be found that the work of mass selection must be repeated annually. "acad) N.97 ?yntactic roles of adverbs N.97.9 Adverbs modifyin ad!ectives :ne of the primary functions of adverbs is to modify ad!ectives, as in these e)amples: .d Qm rather `partiala to parsnips. "conv) N was utterly, hopelessly, horribly ` lada. "fict) (e is a deeply `sicka man. "news f) #his is sli htiy `lar era than the calculated valuc, "acad f) ,sually, adverbs precede the ad!ectives that they modify, but postmodification also occurs. #he adverbs enou h and a o must be placed after the ad!ectives they modify, but other adverbs can also be postposed: Gown carne the dry flakes, `fata enou h and `heavya enou h to crash like nickels on stone. "fict) #hat seems so `lon a a o. "fict!) It is `richa nutritionally with hi h calcium contenP, "acad) ?everal preparations are àvailablea commercially. "acad^) In cases such as the last it becomes difficult to differentiate between occurrence as postmodifier and as adverbial, since this adverb can be separated from the ad!ective "cf. ?everal preparations are àvailablea to us commercially.) .97.9.9 Adverbs modifyin ad!ectives in conversation and academic prose De isters vary reatly with respect to the adverb + ad!ective pairs that commonly occur "cf. N.94.9.9). %e focus here on the two contrastin re isters of conversation and academic prose. E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 4 IIJH&J Eonversation "in both dialects) has hi her fre'uencies of ad!ective with modifyin adverb combinations than academic prose does. H& Academic prose, in contrast, has more diversity in the ad!ectives and adverbs that collocate. HI #he followin are the most common collocations: H& :ccurrin over 922 times per million words*Am< Eonv: pretty ood, really ood> 0r< Eonv: very ood, very nice. H& :ccurrin over 62 times per million words*Am< Eonv: too bad, very ood> 0r< Eonv: 'uite ood, really ood. HI :ccurrin over 42 times per million words*Am< Eonv: real ood, real 'uick, really bad, really nice, too bi , very nice> 0r< Eonv: pretty ood, 'uite nice, really nice, too bad, fair enou h> Acad: more eneral, 'uite different, si nificantly different, si nificantly hi her, statistically si nificant, very difficult, very important, very lar e, very low. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? #he hi her fre'uency of adverb + ad!ective combinations in conversation "in both dialects) and their reater diversity in academic prose is typical of the eneral contrast between conversation and the e)pository re isters. Eonversation usually has less diversity in word choice: see, for e)ample, 92.4.1.7 on the diversity in circumstance adverbials> cf. also 4.4.9 in eneral. For the most part, adverb + ad!ective pairs in conversation have a sin le type of modifier, i.e. a de ree adverb "N.91.4.1). #he de ree adverbs 'uite, real, really, too, pretty, and very are especially common. #his roup of adverbs and the ad!ectives that they typically modify*e. . bad, ood, nice*are va ue or informal words. #he adverb modifiers in academic prose also include de ree adverbs, especially more, 'uite, and very. (owever, the ad!ectives modified by these forms have more to do with specific characteristics than eneral valuc !ud ments "e. . different, hi her, di!ficult). In addition, several of the pairs in academic prose refer to statistical measurements, such as si nificantly differentlhi her and statistically si nificant. #hese eneral trends are illustrated in the followin e)amples: Eonversational: #hat sounds very ` ooda. "Am< conv) #hat looks pretty ` ooda. "Am< conv) Deally, I, I fancy <mma eos she;s a very `nicea irl "0r< conv) Academic: (e found it very `difficulta to re ain his usual level of activity because his arthritis seemed worse after the operation. "a adP) #he hospital mortality at 49 days for those who received streptokinase was not si nificantly `differenta from the control roup. "acad+) #he statistically `si nificanta interaction between condition of retention and visual field of presentation was held to confirm the hemispheric locus of visual and verbal codes. "acad) Ge ree adverbs as modifiers are discussed further in N.91.4.1 N.97.4 Adverbs modifyin other adverbs
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Adverbs also serve as modifiers of other adverbs: #hey;ll fi ure it out really `fasta. "conv) #he do&it&yourself builder almost àlwaysa uses a water&repellent plywood, oil&tempered hardboard or fibre&cement sheet. "acadBnL) N.97.4.9 Adverbs modifyin adverbs in conversation and academic prose (ere we e)emplify the ran e of use of adverb &f adverb combinations by considerin only the most common combinations in conversation "Am< and 0r<) and academic prose: E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 4 HJ Adverbs are less common as modifiers of other adverbs than as modifiers of ad!ectives. HI #he followin are the most most common collocations. HI :ccurrin over 922 times per million words*Am< Eonv: ri ht now. H& :ccurrin over 62 times per million words*Am< Eonv: pretty much, ri ht here, ri ht there, so much, very much> 0r< Eonv: very much> Acad: much more. H& :ccurrin over 42 times per million words*Am< Eonv: much better, much more, pretty soon, pretty well, really well, too much, very well> 0r< Eonv: too much> Acad: much less. ILd :ccurrin over ten times per million words*Am< Eonv: so fast, so well> 0r< Eonv: !ust now, !ust there, much better, 'uite well, really well, ri ht now, very often> Acad: almost certainly, almost entirely, very much, very often. ^:i@mmdi.i]fflai?= In both conversation and academic prose, modifyin adverbs in the most&common collocate pairs often show a concern for 'ualifyin arpounts of somethin or for 'ualifyin a comparison. #hus, conversation includes common pairs such as very much, much better, and much more, while academic prose includes very much, much more, and much less. <)amples of these items include: 9 :h, you re oin to do much better. "Am< conv) 4 #hank you very much for listenin . "0r< conv) 7 $ admitted, however, that interna\ skepticism offers a much more powerful challen e to our pro!ect. "acad) 1 It is much less easy when one has to e)plain the simultaneous e)tinction of several unrelated roups. "acad) As e)amples 7 and 1 TIlstrate, in academic prose the adverbs more and less in the pairs much more and much less are usually themselves modifiers of a followin ad!ective. %ith the use of pretty much in Am< conversation, it is sometimes difficult to differentPate between the meanin of a decrease in intensity and a hed e "N.91.4.8): 6 %hat they did in India was study ?anskrit, which is pretty much a waste of time. "Am< conv) 8 @ike Qm pretty much in awe of it when I see it. "Am< conv) In 6, pretty much could si nal either that the study of ?anskrit was mostly*but not entirely*a waste of time, or that Qaste of time; is not a precisely accurate choice of words. In 8, pretty much could be interpreted as meanin #m in sli ht but not reat awe;, or that the phrase in awe is somehow imprecise. "In fact the entire proposition in 8 is marked as imprecise with the hed e like at the be innin of the clause.) Eonversation also shows a concern for time and place, particularly in the use of ri ht in Am< as a modifier to su est e)actness, and occasionally in the similar use of !ust in 0r<: I really couldnt keep him in my apartment ri ht `nowa. "Am< conv) ?he already ot a twenty percent tip ri ht `herea. "Am< conv) And the whatchacallems are ri ht `therea, seeX "Am< coFvf) Ean you see a little spark of reen !ust `thereaX "0r< conv) I think well put it off !ust `nowa, Arant. "0r< conv) Eonversation also commonly uses adverb modifiers that occur with well to describe either 'uality or thorou hness: %ell that;s how we ot ac'uainted so `wella because she was in :lie;s room a lot. "Am< conv) [ou could remember that number pretty `wella. "Am< conv) <n land did really `wella, didn;t theyX "0r< conv) In contrast to conversation, academic prose has two common pairs with almost as modifier, both servin to soften a claim: #his decline is almost `certainlya partly due to the increased disease incidence. "acad) #he passa e is almost èntirelya in third&person narration. "acad) As in these e)amples, the modifier almost allows academic authors to make stron but not absolute claims. Adverbs modifyin other elements
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Althou h adverbs that are used as modifiers most commonly modify ad!ectives or other adverbs, they can also serve as modifiers of noun phrases "or parts of noun phrases), prepositional phrases, particles, and numer.is or measurements: BIt carne as 'uite à surprisea,B said one. "news) Mpremodifier of noun phraseH Almost Tnobodya, it seemed, could eat what they were iven. "nc#f) Mmodifier of pronounH I;ve done about `halfa a side. "conv) Mmodifier of predeterminen 0ut there;s a hell of a lot*well ìnto their seventiesa. "conv) Mmodifier of prepositional phraseH It;s really filled the room ri ht ùpa. "conv) Mmodifier of particle of phrasal verbH It is still not clear whether the appro)imately `462a people still ,sted as missin include those whom e)&detainees say were still alive in =ay. "news) Mmodifier of numeralH #osi "9531:4N&71, Fi ure 7) estimates that rou hly òne&'uarter to one&thirda of the total surface .rea of four sites in Bprehistoric #uranB was devoted to different craft activities. "acad) Mmodifier of numerical e)pressionH As with ad!ective and adverb modifiers, most of these adverbs occur as premodifiers. (owever, postmodification also occurs, especially with locative information about a noun phrase: #hus, in `the ammonia e)amplea above, if ammonia, F(V is allowed to escape from the reaction system, the reaction cannot achieve e'uilibrium. "acad) Mpostmodifier of noun phraseH For some of these functions, only a small set of adverbs is used. For instance, few adverbs apart from ri ht, well, and directly are commonly used to modify prepositions. Adverbs as complements of prepositions Another function of adverbs is to serve as the complement of a preposition. Eonsider the followin e)amples, with the preposition in à and the adverb in bold: 9 [ou can;t o `throu ha here can youX "conv) 4 #here;s another sweatshirt lurkin ùndera there that I didn;t see. "conv) 7 0ut I;m seein all this `froma above. "fict f) 1 `,ntila now, I did not realiCe how much of a ski lesson is spent not skiin . "news^) 6 `0efarea lon , he met a pretty sin in cow irl from #e)as who went by the oame of Gale <vans, "news) 8 Its imp/rtame has often been reco niCed `sincea then. "acad\) As these e)amples dem/nstrate, the adverbs servin as complements of prepositions usually denote place fas in 9&7) or time "1&8). For problems of overlap with constructions with adverbial particles see 4.1.8.4. i N.97.6 Adverbs as clause elements: adverbials #here are three ma!or types of adverbials: circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials, and linkin adverbials "see 7.4.3 for the basic distinction> and also Ehapter 92). A Eircumstance adverbials add information about the action or state that is descrPbed in the clause, ivin details about factors such as time, manner, and place: #hey;re omia be there =om. "conv) (e took it in slowly but uncomprehendin ly. "Ficrf) 0 ?tance adverbials convey the speaker$writer;s assessment of the proposition in the clause. #hey include comments about: J the epistemic conditions on the clause, e. . the level of doubt$certainty with maybe, probably: (is book undoubtedly filis a need. "news) J the speaker$writer;s attitude towards the proposition, e. . unfortunately or surprisin ly. #hen, amaCin ly, he would turn over the microphone to his dau hter =aureen and ive her e'ual time to speak on behalf of the amendment. "acad) J the styie in which the proposition is bein conveyed, e. . honestly or firankly. And he sounded a bit low, 'uite firankly, to me yesterday on the phone. "conv) E @inkin adverbials serve to connect stretches of te)t*phrases, sentences, para raphs or lon er: #he wei ht of bureaucracy still han s a trifle heavy. Fevertheless, the review represents substancial pro ress. "news) =ost of our rural people do not have radio or televisi/n and a lar e proportion are illiterate. #herefore we had to use approaches that do not depend on the mass media or on literacy. "acad) As the above e)amples illustrate, all three kinds of adverbials can be realiCed by adverbs or adverb phrases. Ehapter 92 ives a detailed account of adverbials. N.97.8 Adverbs with de ree complements
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#he clauses and phrases which occur as de ree complements with ad!ectives "N.4.N) also occur with adverbs "marked with à below). :f the si) ma!or strucfural types of de ree complement usted in N.3, the first two can be phrasal or clausal structures, while the others are clausal only. #he whole adverb phrase functions as an adverbial in all of the e)amples below. A Adverb&er 1& t$ian&phrase$clause :D more$less + adverb 1& than&phrase$clause +hrase: (e rodc it òftenera than ever. "fict) Aenerally speakin , those hi her in occupational status suffered `less acutelya than those lower down. "acad) Elause: %e e)pected this to happen `much 'uickera than it did. "news) It could happen `more 'uicklya than anyone e)pects. "news^) Ford and 0each;s study of nearly two hundred societies concluded that in virtually all of them se) is re arded as somethin the woman does for the man. (e needs it `more ur entlya than she does. "acad) As the e)amples show, this structure can include inflectional or phrasal markin of comparative de ree on the adverb "i.e. 'uicker v. more 'uickly). 0 as + adverb 1& as&phrase$clause +hrase: #he normal sean must be resumed às 'uicklya as possible. "acad) Elause: $ didn;t do às wella as I wish that I had. "conv) ;N don;t know where you ot the idea I was ill,B I said às heartilya as I could. "fict) E so 1& adverb 1& that&clause It happened `so fasta that I didn;t even realise I had fallen off. "conv) (e wanted it `so ur entlya that he fid eted in his chair. "fict) G so 1& adverb 1& as to&clause #his structure occurs most commonly with the adverb far. (e went `so fara as to write home some va ue intimation ofhis feelin s about business and its prospeets. "fict) =y new found anti&re ulatory spirit oes `so fara as to ob!ect to the movement in Eon ress to set the rotes that Eable #Q compontes can char e. "news) < too 1& adverb 1& to&clause #hrou h the open window the voice of the beauty of the world carne murmurin , `too softlya to hear e)actPy what it said. "fict!) #he situation has deteriorated `too fara to repair. "news t) F Adverb enou h + to&clause It couldn;t turn `'uickly enou ha to fogow them. "fict) At least four people were bitten `seriously enou ha to be hospitaliCed. "news) (ow it is done is less important than learnin somethin `well enou ha to share it in collective ,fe "AEAGf) As with ad!ectives as head, the de ree adverb in all of these constructions can also occur without the followin de ree complement construction, for e)ample: [ou shouldn;t o to bed too earlyl "conv) i N.97.N Adverbs standin alone In conversation "and direct reports of dialo ue in other re isters), adverbs can stand alone as structurally unconnected elements "see 7.96 and 91.7.1), and even as complete utterances. In some cases, the adverbs are related to ellipted forms of previous sentences, as in: #he kitten;s one craCy. Fo, totally I mean it. #otally and utterly. "conv) Mi.e. #he kitten has one totally and utterly craCy.H A: Aettin there. 0: [eah. A: ?lowly but surely. "conv) Mi.e. I am ettin there slowly but surely.H Adverbs as utterances can also serve to e)press*or emphasiCe*a reement or concurrence: A: %hat you could afford you had. 0: <)actly. <)actly. "conv) A: In other words the skills of a counselorX 0: [es. [es. E: Gefinitely. Gefinitely. "conv) Adverbs can also be used as 'uestions. :ften, these adverbs are stance adverbials of actuality or style of speakin : A: [ou can still vote if you lost it. 0: DeallyX A: #hey should have your oame on the roster. "conv) A: [ou re supposed to put the lid on, otherwise it won;t switch off. 0: ?eriouslyX A: [eah. "conv)
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A: (ave you ot any on thatX 0: Fo. A: (onestlyX 0: (onestly\ "conv) ?ome of the above e)amples illustrate that adverbs can serve not only to pose 'uestions, but also to answer them. :ther e)amples include: A: It;s warm isn;t it. 0y the radiator. 0: +robably. "conv) A: Are they that oodX 0: Gefinitely. :nly band I want to see playin *in the world. "conv) A ain, most adverbs answerin 'uestions are stance adverbs. N.91 ?emantic cate ories of adverbs N.91.9 Importance of conte)t in the semantics of adverbs As with ad!ectives "N.7) and verbs "6.4.9), many adverbs have meanin s that vary with conte)t of use. First, some adverbs have both literal and more metaphorical meanin s. For e)ample, perfectly can be used in its literal meanin of ;in a perfect manner;: e. . perfectly arran ed> perfectly fits the bilP. (owever, more commonly it is used in a more metaphorical sense to mean ;completely;: e. . perfectly normal> perfectly safe. :ther adverbs can be used with distinctly different meanin s. For e)ample, the adverb !ust has a wide ran e of meanin s: J denotin closeness in time: e. . the horse had !ust had its foal J increasin the intensity of a followin element: e. . !ust dreadful, !ust what I wanted J decreasin intensity of a followin element: e. . !ust 1.6 points down J si nallin manner: e. . it;ll !ust stop "i.e., ;by itself;). #he adverb far has a literal meanin with distance "too far up the road), a metaphorical meanin with time kso far, with Ehristmas not that far off), and a third meanin of intensification "a far better atmosphere, far more numerous). #hus, the meanin of an adverb is often conte)t&dependent. N.91.4 Gescription of semantic cate ories Adverbs cover a wide ran e of semantic cate ories. #he followin discussion identifies seven main cate ories, as well as discussin other less common meanin s. N.91.4.9 +lace Adverbs of place can show position, direction, or distance: (e laves it there. "conv) MpositionH It hopped backward amon its companions. "fictn&)& MdirectionH BGon;t worry, he cant have one far.B "fict) MdistanceH As in the above e)amples, adverbs of place are typically adverbials "92.4.9.9). #hey can also occur occasionally as the first word in compound ad!ectives "N.5.7): :nly four of the forward&`lookin a components were positive. "news) #he chan es made in =ap 7.2 are far&`reachin a. "acad) (owever, in these cases it would not be appropriate to consider the adverb to be an independent modifier, since the followin participle could not occur alone as an &in ad!ective: Lthe lookin components and L#he chan es ... are reachin do not make sense. ,V.91.4.4 #ime Adverbs convey information about time in four ways: position, fre'uency, duration, and relationship: 9 ?he doesnt say o away very much now. "conv) Mtime positionH 4 #hey looked intently at him, then at each other, then e)ecuted a smart about&face. "fict) Mtime positionH 7 Decently deserted by her husband she;s found it hard enou h to make ends meet in the past. "news) Mtime position$relationshipH L 1 ?he always eats the onion. "conv) Mtime fre'uencyH 6 %orse still, the product itselfis often dull and unchan in . "news) Mtime fre'uencyH 8 ?he will remain a happy memory with us always. "news) Mtime durationH N %hen they took the oPd one out it was already in seven sep.rate piecesl "conv) Mtime relationshipH #hese e)amples illustrate two characteristics common in the semantics of adverbs of time. First, a sin le adverb can incorp/rate more than one temporal meanin . In e)ample 7, recently conveys both a sense of a point in the near past and a time relationship "@e. more recent than other events). ?econdly, the same adverb can have different temporal meanin s, dependin on its conte)t of use. In 1, always refers to fre'uency "i.e. each time there;s an onion, she eats it). In 8, always refers more to duration: she will endure as a happy memory with us from now and continuin for ever. Elearly the semantic domain of the verb in the clause is important for interpretin the adverb: eat refers to an activity which can be performed repeatedly, remain is a stative verb of e)istence "6.4.9.9). =anner =any adverbs e)press information about how an action is performed. =any* thou h not all*manner adverbs have &ly suffi)es, takin their meanin s from the ad!ectives from which they are derived. <)amples include:
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(e really believed that because we were hitch&hikin , we were whores and that we would happily o to his house. "coFvt) Automatically she backed away. "fict) 0ut sentiment recovered 'uickly. "news f) #here could be no doubt that <+D, as we shall acronymicagy refer to them, had drawn attention. "acad\) (owever, other adverbs of manner are not &ly adverbs: [ou can run fast but not here. "conv) #hey were ridin abreast down the railway ,nes, "fictI) #o perform well it has to be ti htly tar eted to cope with 'uite a narrow band of fre'uencies. "news) Decorded interviews and reports of observations were transcribed verbatPm and checked for accuracy before analysis. "acad) #he above e)amples illustrate manner adverbs used as adverbials. =any manner adverbs are also used as modifiers of participial premodifiers of a noun, providin descriptive information that is inte rated into a noun phrase: 0y the dark waters of 0uda, her tears droppin hotly amon the 'uietly `flowin a dead leaves. "fict^) In a fast `movin a first half the teams appeared to cancel each other out in midfield. "news) #he Dussian leader threw the carefugy àrran eda welcome into chaos. "F<%?f) #hese combinations can also be analyCed as compound ad!ectives, an analysis which the presence of a hyphen between the adverbs and participle would render more persuasive "N.5.7). :ccasionally manner adverbs also occur as modifiers within compound predicative ad!ectives: #hey are fast&`movin a, colourftd, noisy, and as ood if not better than anythin you can buy for home computen, "news) 0ut it is clean, well&`lP hteda and you can be certain it wgl be well tended. "news) Eertain &ly adverbs that can act as manner adverbials often take on the role of de ree adverbs when they are used as modifiers. Eonsider, for e)ample, the difference between 9 and 4 below: 9 #he doy which ended terribly at the presidential palace started badly at the same venue. "news) 4 (e;s a terribly ìma inativea businessman. "fict) In 9, the adverbial terribly is used to describe a bad situation. (owever, in 4 there is nothin terrible about the ima inativeness of the businessman> rather, the modifier terribly emphasiCes the e)tent of his ima inativeness. #his type of semantic chan e is particularly apparent with adverbs that have ne ative meanin s as adverbials, but lose their ne ative valuc as modifiers "e. . awfully, terribly). N.91.4.1 Ge ree Adverbs of de ree describe the e)tent to which a characteristic holds. #hey can be used to mark that the e)tent or de ree is either reater or less than usual or than that of somethin else in the nei hborin discourse. #hey occur as both adverbials and modifiers. <)amples of de ree adverbs functionin as adverbials include: It;s insulated sli htly with polystyrene behind. "conv) #hose letters from you, it ot so I almost believed they were really written to me. "fict) #hey thorou hly deserved a draw last ni ht. "news!) Fluids were withheld completely for 1 hours prior to sur ery. "acad^) Adverbials of e)tent$de ree are discussed further in 92.4.9.6. A Amplifiers$intensifiers #raditionally, de ree adverbs that increase intensity are called amplifiers "or intensifiers). ?ome of these modify radable ad!ectives and indicate de rees on a scale. #hey include more, very, so, too, e)tremely, and ood and "N.92.4)> à below marks the head word: :ut dentist was very ` ooda, "conv) %e both thou ht you were marvellous. And so `kinda to let us come to the party afterwards. "fict) =ost wgl be e)tremely `cautiousa until new case law defines the e)tent of the new Act. "news) :ther amplifiers indicate an endpoint on a scale. #hese include totally, absolutely, and 'uite "in the sense of ;completely;): 0ut snow and ice accumulate in a totally `differenta way from sediment. "acad) 1 Eompletely `colda and ùnemotionala. "fict!) #hese amplifiers are used with some radables "those denotin a scale that can be thou ht of as havin a fi)ed end, such as different, sure and possible) and also some non& radables "N.4). (ow is also used as a de ree adverb in e)clamative clauses "7.97.7): A: %ell it ain;t the child;s fault.
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0: Fo. A: (ow `cruela\ "conv) (ow ìronica that (ays is launchin one of the bi est non&privatisation share offers to the public at a time when the party is in trouble. "news) #his,&use of how as an amplifier typically introduces ironic comments in conversation: A: #his uy carne reelin down the hallway completely plastered, uh, and the mana er told me, oh, don;t worry about him. (e ,ves here, but he;s completely harmless, and he sits out front, on the rass, ri ht in front of the door to my apartment and drinks. 0: (ow `lovelya. "conv) As noted above, adverbs that can also be used as manner adverbials sometimes lose their literal semantic valuc when they are used as amplifiers. #hus consider: 9 Few [ork;s an awfully `safea place, "fict) 4 And Eari was perfectly àwfula. "fict) In 9, awfully does not mean ;in an awful way;> it simply increases the intensity of safe. In 4, perfectly takes on its more metaphorical sense of;absolutely; "N.91.9). Gead is another adverb used in collo'uial situations to modify ad!ectives. Elearly, dead has lost its literal meanin in such cases: It;s dead èasyf. "conv) It;s dead `nicea. "conv) (e is dead `seriousa all the time, "conv) Giminishers$downtoners Ge ree adverbs which scale down the effect of the modified item are sometimes called diminishers "or downtoners). As with intensifiers, many indicate de rees on a scale and apply to radable ad!ectives. #hey include less, sli htly, somewhat, rather, and 'uite "in the sense ;to some e)tent;): 7 A sli htly `colda start ave way to wonderful contrasts offeelin . "news) 1 Eonse'uently, =ar) often uses the term blasse in a somewhat `cavaliera fashion. "acad^) ?ome of these adverbs are related to hed es "discussed below as stance adverbs). #hat is, they convey some sense that the use of the modified item is not precisely accurate. For e)ample, in 7 and 1 above, cold and cavalier appear not to be absolutely e)act in describin the start and a fashion. (owever, we make a distinction between the items that primarily modify intensity "de ree adverbs) and items that primarily mark imprecisi/n or estimation "hed es such as kind of). As can be seen in the above discussion, 'uite can occur with both radables and non& radables, but often with a different meanin . %ith radables whose meanin does not imply any absolute end&point of the scale it usually means ;to some e)tent;: 'uite nice "conv) %ith non& radables it has the meanin mentioned earlier, ;completely;: 'uite motionless "fict) (owever, there are many ad!ectives with which 'uite can be used in both its senses for e)ample: $ was 'uite `confidenta that it would stay in. "conv!) Eonfident can be interpreted as radable or as an absolute state. #hus, 'uite confident could indPcate either modcrate or complete confidence. Intonation would likely make the interpretation easier in the actual spoken versi/n. (owever, in practice it has often been impossible to decide which of the senses of 'uite is bein used, and they have been conflated in the counts below. ?imilar to diminishers, other de ree adverbs may indPcate lesser de ree in terms of fallin short of the endpoint on a scale, e. . almost, nearly, pretty, and far from. #hese also occur with some non& radables "N.4). =r Geanes lass is almost èmptya. "fict) For discussion of the use of amplifiers and diminishers with supposedly non& radable ad!ectives, see N.N.8. N.91.4.6 Additive$restrictive Additive adverbs show that one item is bein added to another*either at a clausal level, as in 9 and 4> or at a phrasal level, as in 7: 9 :h, my dad was a reat uy, too. "conv) 4 #he formula also shows the number of moles of atoms of each element in one mole of molecules. "acad) 7 I can hear the hatred, but also the need. "fict), . <ven when they occur as adverbials at clause level, additive adverbs typically sin le out one particular part of the clause;s meanin as bein ;additional; to somethin else "often implied). For e)ample, out of conte)t, 9 is ambi uous between two senses: ;=y dad "in addition to someone else) was a reat uy; and ;=y dad was a reat uy "in addition to bein some other kind of person);. #hat is, the focus in this case can be either on the sub!ect or on the sub!ect predicative "cf. the scope of ne ators, 7.3.6).
4N
Destrictive adverbs such as only are similar to additive adverbs in that they focus attention on a certain element of the clause. #hey serve to emphasiCe the importance of one part of the proposition, by restrictin the truth valuc of the proposition either primarily or e)clusively to that part: #he idea of anybo.y, =ar e especially, likin that wall&eyed o) in preference to Gickie made #om smile. "fict) :nly those who can afford the monthly payment of j9,492.26, plus j59.88 a month durin probation, can be ordered to pay. "news) ?ections 92.4.9.8 discusses further considerations with additive and restrictive adverbials, the ma!ority of which are adverbs. #he ci/se connection between the restrictive and de ree cate ories is also discussed in 92.4.9.8. i N.91.4.8 ?tance Adverbs can be used to realiCe all three types of stance: epistemic, attitude, and style. #hese are e)emplified below, detailed discussion is in 92.7. A <pistemic stance adverbs J Adverbs can show levcis of certainty or doubt: Fo it;s alri ht Qil probably mana e with it "conv) =y ideas about food are definitely passc. "news) J Adverbs can comment on the reality or actuality of a proposition: Actually Qm not very fussy at all. "conv) $$ $ like the music enou h, I really could care less who the people are. "Am< conv) Mcould core less occurs commonly in Am< speech for the more litera,y true couldn;t care lessH J Adverbs can be used to show that a proposition is based on some evidence, without specifyin the c)act source: ?he was a rosycheeked, very unassumin , and simple woman, who smiled easily and talked with difficulty, and for the rest lived apparently a servile ,fe of satisfaction and contenP, "fict) #he supernumerary instar is reportedly dependent on the density of the parental population. "acad) J Adverbs can be used to show the limitations on a proposition: :ur losses were mainly due to promotional activity from our rivals. "F<%?f) #ypically, the front top si) teeth will decay because of the way the child has sucked on its bottle. "news) J Adverbs can be used to convey imprecisi/n. #hese adverbs are also called hed es: It was kind of stran e. "conv) ! ain;t seen Phis series I !ust sort of remember from the last series, "conv) #he ratio of clerks to total employees in the same manufacturin industries rou hly avera es 5O. "a adP) =any hed es occur as adverbials> however, hed es are also very common as modifiers of phrases and words. In conversation they can show the imprecisi/n of word choice, as in the followin e)ample where a little flamin fire thin is clearly imprecise: #hey;d brin like à little flamin fire thin a. "convI) (ed es are also very common with numbers, measurements, and 'uantities. #hese forms are also called appro)imators, and typically function as modifiers of numerical or other 'uantifyin e)pressions "cf. 4.N.N.1): #hey were suin burt for like `seventy thousanda dollars. "conv) ?o now I needed a !ob that I could do for appro)imately `four monthsa. "fict) About `96a families attended the first meetin . "news t) +rices were lower across the board, with nearly àlla blue&chip stocks losin round. "news) #he cate ory of hed es also overlaps with stance adverbs that convey uncertainty. For e)ample, the use of maybe in the followin sentences shows the imprecisi/n of the followin measurements: ?ee it;s come to me maybe & èleven o;clock, half&past elevena in the mornin . "conv) %e see 62, maybe `922a new %ine Dacks in a year;s time, "news) Attitude stance adverbs #hese adverbs tell a speaker;s or writer;s attitude towards a proposition: $ lost the manual that oes with it, unfortunately. "conv) ?urprisin ly, the dividend rates of some pretty solid companies e'ual and sometimes e)ceed rates available from bonds and certificates ofdeposit. "news) Euriously, an "at first si ht) almost diamePrically opposed ar ument may be advanced without contradictin the above. "acad) All of these attitude stance adverbs function as adverbials> see 92.7 for further discussion. ?tyle stance adverbs ?tyle stance adverbs comment on the manner of speakin which the speaker is
43
adoptin : for e)ample, is the speaker "or writer) usin the lan ua e sincereh$, frankly, or simplyX Erackers she is, that woman\ (onestly\ ?he;s crackers\ "conv) Frankly, Gee Gee suspects that in this instance she may also be a victim of lookism, i.e., discrimination a ainst persons who do not measure up to an arbitrary, unrealistic and se)ist standard of beauty. "F<%st) huite simply, ,fe cannot be the same. "F<%sf) @ike adverbs that show attitude, these style stance adverbs function as adverbials and are covered in more detail in 92.7. N.91.4.N @inkin @inkin adverbs serve to make semantic connections between spans of discourse of varyin len th, thus contributin to the cohesi/n of discourse. #hey function as adverbials and are covered in more detail in 92.1. For their distinction from coordinators see 4.1.N.4. %e briefly e)emplify the different semantic cate ories here. A <numeration and addition For 0raverman, #aylor;s ;scientific mana ement; rested on three principies. First, mana ement must systematicagy investP ate and ac'uire knowled e and information M.. .H. ?econdly, the knowled e ac'uired by mana ement is used for M.. .H. #hirdly, M . .H "acad!) Additionally, the serum potassium level may be useful as a differential point. "acad f) 0 ?ummation Alto ether, Dose =ilton was as unlike as possible to the sta e or novelist;s conception of a lady;s maid. "fict) :verall, there are several ma!or issues confrontin us on the media front ri ht now. "news) E Apposition It must be remembered that evaluation usually takes place while another, more primary, activity is oin on* namely, that of the service pro ram. "acad) A third decisi/n criterion is becomin increasin ly popular: the payback period, @e. the len th oftime it will take for the present valuc of accumulated net benefits to e'ual the total capital conversi/n costs. "acadB^B) G Desult$inference 0ut facin me in the nets for two winters, he ot to know my bowlin inside out and by the end of our stay in Eape #own he was hammerin me all around the practice .rea. #herefore, I suppose I should claim some credit for Araham currently bein one of the best batsmen a ainst spin in the world. "news) #hey need to propel themselves upwards and it is that moment of suspensi/n comin between their forcc upwards and the forcc of ravity downwards that. is so important. #hus it is possible to fly onto and off apparatus as sep.rate tasks. "acad ^) < Eontrast$concession A: #hey;re !ust round beef. 0: It;s really ross thou h. "conv) #he p/lice would like another chance to talk to =ichaels about those responsible, namely his friends from the mountains. Alternatively they want us to put certain 'uestions to him. "fict) And the month befare he left, he had made several lon distance phone calis to AriCona and :hio. +/lice, however, would not say where they were concentratin their search. "news) F #ransition ?omeone had the idea that if he walked alon proddin the round with his shovel, he could make the clams s'uirt ahead of him. <veryone else was doin the sanie thin , everyone but the oPd timen. :ne oPd timer told me later that the constant proddin kept the clams lyin low until the tide carne back. in. Incidentally, out of some 12 or 62 people on the beach that doy, the only ones with clams carried small hand shovels. "news) In other words, the width of the band of wavelen ths thus re'uired will be inversely proportional to )> as the latter narrows, the former must widen. Fow, de 0ro lie, when he hypothesiCed matter waves, related their waveien th to the particle momentum throu h the e'uation p p h$q. "acad) N.91.4.3 :ther meanin s In addition to the cate ories specified above, adverbs occasionally realiCe other meanin s. For e)ample, consider the followin : 9 #he technical achievement of openin a vessel measured an io raphically was similarly successfid for both roups of patiertts. "acad) 4 %hen there Ts a funeral, the body is washed symbolically as part of the service. "news) In 9, an io raphically could be considered a manner adverb, but more specifically it shows means> that is, it specifies the method by which the vessel was measured. "?ee 92.4.9.7 for more on adverbials of means.) In 4, the adverb makes clear that the purpose of the body washin is symbolic, and it could therefore be considered a purpose adverb. #he semantic cate ories of means and purpose, as well as certain other cate ories identified for adverbials in
45
Ehapter 92, are more commonly realiCed by structures other than adverbs> however, adverbs are occasionally used tbr these semantic cate ories. :ne adverb which does not fit into any of the above cate ories is the courtesy adverb, kindly. It functions similarly to the inserP please to mark politeness overtly in re'uests. It is used most commonly in fiction, and in re'uests lends itself to an ironic "i.e. impolite) interpretation: In any case, kindly ask the authorities to cali off their search. "fict) BIn the meantime, will you two kindly stop yappin , and try to ive me some ideas ofwhat we should do to keep the kids 'uiet this afiemoon,B commanded 0eth. "fict) bindly attend to what I say and not to what =r ?helly says, sir. "fict) N.91.7 ?emantic domains of adverbs in conversation and academic prose E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 47 HI ln conversation, the ma!ority of common adverbs fall into three semantic domains: time, de ree, and stance. HJ In contrast, a reater number of the common adverbs in academic prose are from the semantic domains of de ree and linkin "see #able N.99). GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? #he distribution of semantic cate ories of adverbs is in many cases dosely related to patterns of use for semantic cate ories of adverbials "92.4.4, 92.7.9.6, 92.1.9.3). First, in conversation "both Am< and 0r<) many common adverbs fall in the time "and to a lesser e)tent place) cate ories. (ere, there, then, and now are especially common. #his is to be e)pected in that their meanin s are all deictic* i.e. they can only be defined relative to the time and place of a particular utterance "e. . now p ;at the time of speakin ;). #hese and other adverbs are typically used as adverbials> their use and the contrast between conversation and academic prose are further discussed in 92.4.6. #able N.99 =ost common adverbs roups by semantic domain in 0r< and Am< conversation and in academic prose> occurrences per million words "@istin all adverbs that occur at least 422 times per million words, includin both modifier and adverbial functions.) over 9,222 at least 422 semantic 0r< E:FQ Am< E:FQ domain AEAG place adverbs here there XS away d L time adverbs now then a ain 7 l P\ always i O still i ? i today i 7 never y a a o a a ever 3 i !ust 7 7 yesterday 7 4 already sometimes 6 5 yet ? later 9 often a usually i
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manner adverbs to ether si nificantly i well de ree adverbs very a L really i i too i a 'uite ? e)actly ri ht 3 pretty real more relatively semantic 0r< domain E:FQ additive$restrictive adverbs !ust only even too e$se a$so especially particularly stance adverbs of course i probably o really j! like i actually maybe L sort of it perhaps a kind of enerally indeed linkin adverbs then so L anyway thou h a however e. . i.e. therefore
;i
7 i7 W 7 W Am<E:FQ AEAG
;M
] P Po Q\ is 9 ?I 9 i 0 i a
? i 5
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thus 3 ?econdly, there are a hi her number of common adverbs servin a linkin function in academic prose than in conversation. #heir fre'uency reflects the importance in academic prose of markin the connections between ideas and e)plicitly showin the development of lo ical ar uments. #hese forms function as adverbials and are discussed further in 92.1. #he difference in the use of stance adverbs between conversation and academic prose is also covered in the discussion of stance adverbials in 92.7. (owever, it is important to note here that some of the common stance adverbs of conversation are also used to modify ad!ectives and noun phrases: #able N.99 continued An ies one is really like `hota and mil dry thin s. "conv) And at that sta e my plaster that Qd had on after the er op had only been off perhaps à fortni hta. "conv) [ou can still find that in =c)ico in sort of `hacienda&likea places and ranchos, "conv) M.. .H when I o away away, visitin , I mean, like à weeka. "coFvf) In the additive$restrictive cate ory, most of the very common items are adverbials "see discussion in 92.4.6). (owever, one Ptem classed as additive "althou h it mi ht ar uably be placed in the ;other meanin s; cate ory) is not an adverbial. #he characteristically conversational adverb else is used as a postmodifier of indefinite and wh&pronouns "1.96.9, 1.98): $$ we run out of toilet rolls ri ht, `someonea else can buy them cause l bou ht the last two lots. "conv) `<verybodya else doin okay ri ht nowX "conv) If;thou ht I had `somethin a else to show you up there. "conv) `%hata else happened at school todayX "conv) #his type of va ue lan ua e is more typical of conversation than the written re isters "see 91.9.4.7). #he semantic cate ory of manner is notable for havin very few common adverbs, even thou h adverbs of manner are common overall "92.4.4). #he reat diversity of manner adverbs results in few commonly recurrin items. #he three adverbs that are relatively common*to ether, si nificantly, and well*tend to have eneral meanin s or more than one meanin > that is, they can be applied to very diverse conte)ts. For e)ample, in the followin samples, to ether is used to describe: 9 people livin in the same house> 4 e)ercises bein brou ht into se'uence with each other> and 7 individu.is standin side by side: 9 %e;re oin to have to ,ve to ether. "conv) 4 #each each one individually, then put those two to ether. "conv) 7 ?tand to ether. "conv) ?i nificantly is used in academic prose both in a eneral sense to show importance "or lack of importance) and in the more specific statisticaP sense: %ithout si nificantly len thenin the book we have added new material to most chapters. "acad) :verall decreases of breedin differ si nificantly. "acad) #he common de ree adverbs are dealt with in more detail in N.96. (owever, one item deserves discussion here: ri ht, which occurs fre'uently in Am< conversation as a modifier of adverbials of place and time. It typically modifies prepositional phrases of position and the adverbs there and now. (e said maybe ri ht ìn the citya. "Am< conv) (e takes that little hammer thin ri ht `therea and whacks me. "Am< conv) 0ut he, uh, they re in this really hairy lawsuit ri ht `nowa. "Am< conv) 0oth well and ri ht are also very common as discourse markers in conversation "7.1.6). #hese usa es as inserts "4.6) are distin uished from the use of well and ri ht as adverbs "see also 91.7.7.7). N.96 Giscourse choices for de ree adverbs as modifiers ?peakers and writers have a variety of de ree adverbs to choose from in modifyin ad!ectives. In some cases, the de ree adverbs have sli htly different meanin s. Eonsider the followin e)amples: #he hi hly priced 0asmati varieties of rice, produced in +akist.n and India, are stron ly àromatica, "acad) :bli ations of fraternity need not be fuPly `voluntarya. "acad^) In the above e)amples, stron ly and fidly clearly are not interchan eable. (owever, in many cases, there is little semantic difference between the de ree adverbs. #hus, the adverbs could be e)chan ed in the followin pair of sentences with little or no chan e in meanin : #hat;s that;s*completely `differenta. "conv)
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It;s totally `differenta. "conv) <ven for similar de ree adverbs, there are differin preferences across re isters and associations with different ad!ectives. #he followin subsections describe the use of amplifiers "N.96.9) and other modifyin adverbs of de ree "N.96.4) in 0r< conversation, Am< conversation, and academic prose. N.96.9 Amplifiers in conversation and academic prose E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 47 HI Eonversation uses a wider ran e of common amplifiers than academic prose. HI Am< and 0r< conversation have a similar profile of fre'uency e)cept that: s* so, totally, really, and real are more common in Am< H& bloody and absolutely are more common in 0r<. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? Eonversation uses a ran e of informal amplifiers which are enerally not used in academic prose. #hey include: bloody "in 0r< conversation), damn, incredibly, terribly, real "especially in Am< conversation), and really. [ou;re stupid, you;re bloody `stupida\ "ar< conv) (e;ll look really `sweeta. "0r< conv) It;s terribly `slowa ioday. "0r< conv) I ot that speedin ticket and now I;m makin damn `surea I don;t speed. "Am< conv) ]f;s probably real èasya to use. "Am< conv) ]f;s incredibly ànnoyin !. "Am< conv) ?ee N.94.4.9 for the use of real and really across dialects. As illustrated in the above e)amples, various ad!ectives are modified by these amplifiers. #he most common have to do with positive valuc !ud ments " ood, cool, nice), thou h ne ative !ud ments "awful, bad, stupid) are also relatively common. #able N&94 Gistribution of most common amplifiers "immediately precedin ad!ectives) in 0r< and Am< conversation and in academic prose> occurrences per million words each represents 62 0r< E:FQ Am< E:FQ AEAG very ; & I; B; & I I &; B so really
too real completely absolutely HIH totally S J JJ damn v bloody MLd e)tremely dd hi hly ad entirely d fully d :ther amplifiers occurrin c. 92 times per million words: incredibly, perfectly, stron ly, terribly. In contrast to conversation, academic prose makes more fre'uent use of the amplifiers entirely, e)tremely, fully, hi hly, and stron ly. 0ut the publication ofGarwins theory of biolo ical evolution ave an entirely `newa stimulus to the elaboration of or anicist theories. "acad) Indeed it is e)tremely `difficulta to establish any truly satisfactory system of definin the limits of these functions. "acad) #he office slave boasts a waist and slender fi ure, while the nawy rolls alon , a fully `developeda man of bone and muscle. "acadn) #he hi hly `comple)a process of ad!ustment to infection is determined by many variables, "acad) %hen both calmodulin and A#+ are present, a stron ly `biphasica curve is produced with a peak activity at 9.9 ) 92K1m. "acad) =ost of these amplifiers are used to e)press the de ree of intensity of a specific characteristic*newness, difPiculty, development, comple)ity, and biphasicity in the above e)amples. In academic prose, there are fewer collocations with the more eneral positive or ne ative Qaluc !ud ments found in conversation. #hree of the most common amplifiers fre'uently occur in both conversation and academic prose: very, so, and too. #hese de ree adverbs are used with a lar e variety of ad!ectives, thou h in conversation the most common collocates with very are a ain eneral positive words k ood, nice):
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#hat sounds very ` ooda. "conv) (e;s a very `nicea person and I like him. "conv) Am< and 0r< conversation are similar in their common collocates with too: bad, bi , and late. (owever, 0r< conversation shows more of a tendency for too bad to be used in ne ative constructions "identifyin somethin as ;not too bad;), while Am< conversation shows a tendency to use too bad in positive constructions: #hey are damp but they don;t feel too `bada. "0r< conv) #hat;s really too `bada. "Am< conv) ?everal collocates of too occur commonly in both conversation and academic prose: early, easy, hard, late, little, lon , low, small. In all re isters, too + head functions as a kind of comparative construction "N.3, N.97.8), describin the de ree of a characteristic as e)cessive relative to the re'uirements of a particular set of circumstances: #he doctor said it was too `latea, #he dama e had been done, "conv) (er blood count was too `lowa so we couldn;t have it. "conv) #he eneral surrender of personality and autonomy it contemplates would leave people too `littlea room for leadin their own ,ves rather than bein led alon them. "acad) ?o is more common in Am< conversation than in 0r< conversation: A: Are you lookin for a !obX 0: [eah. A: It;s so hard isn;t itX 0: I know, it;s a ni htmare. "Am< conv) #he compound amplifier ever so, however, is found in conversation only in 0r<, where it is 'uite fre'uent as a means of emotive intensifkation: $ mean he was a super chap, really lovely chap, ever so nice. "0r< conv) N.96.4 Ge ree modifiers other than amplifiers in conversation and academic prose Apart from amplifiers, modifyin de ree adverbs have a varied semantic effect "N.91.4.1). E:D+,? FIFGIFA? 47 HI Academic prose uses a wider ran e of common adverbs of these types than conversation. HJ #he use of these adverbs in 0r< and Am< conversation is similar, with the e)ception of 'uite and pretty. H& 0r< conversation has a much hi her fre'uency of 'uite, and Am< conversation has a much hi her fre'uency of pretty. N.97 Gistribution of most common amplifiers "immediately precedin ad!ectives) in 0r< and Am< conversation and in academic prose> occutrences per million words i <ach represents 62 0r< E:FQ Am< E:FQ AEAG 'uite & & : I J &;> pretty pv ;.. &.> II:N &r Q RPd iL LF nearly ;&LIJRIL L>R rather ). 5 ;L relatively a ( JL \d fairly iL sli htly LL I almost somewhat L :ther non&amplifier de ree adverbs occurrin c. 92 times per million words: moderately. GI?E,??I:F :F FIFGIFA? Eonsiderin the dialect difference with respect to 'uite and pretty, many of the same collocates that occur with 'uite in 0r< conversation occur with pretty in Am< conversation: bad, bi , cheap, easy, e)pensive, funny, hi h, interestin : ?he;s 'uite `bi a. "0r< conv) $ uess they;re pretty `bi a. "Am< conv) It;s 'uite èasya actually. "0r< conv) Is it a system that would be pretty èasya to learnX "Am< conv) It was 'uite `funnya. "0r< conv) ?o that was pretty `funnya. "Am< conv) #he ad!ectives ood and sure occur commonly in both dialects with 'uite and pretty. A difference between the dialects, however, is that Am< conversation tends to use 'uite sure e)clusively in ne ative conte)ts, where pretty sure is impossible "that is, one cannot say I am not pretty sure). 0r< conversation, on the other hand, uses 'uite sure in both positive and ne ative conte)ts. <)amples of 'uite ood, pretty ood, and pretty sure in both dialects:
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I bet it;s actually 'uite ` ooda, "0r< conv) It;s supposed ta be 'uite ` ooda. "Am< conv) %e are really doin a pretty ` ooda !ob. "0r< conv) 0ut it seems like you have a pretty ` ooda relationship with Ficole. "Am< conv) I;m pretty `surea we must have paid it. "0r< conv) I;m pretty `surea I brou ht it upstairs. "Am< conv) <)amples of 'uite sure in both dialects: ?he was probably 'uite `surea. "0r< conv) I think so, I;m not 'uite `surea, "0r< conv) I wasn;t 'uite `surea what her purpose in ,fe was. "Am< conv) [ou re never 'uite `surea which oal they;re tryirt to achieve. "ahi< conv) #he reason for this difference appears to be that 0r< favors the more intensifyin use of 'uite, which can be used with ad!ectives which indPcate the end& point of a scale, such as ri ht, true, and sure. #hus in 'uite ri ht, 'uite sure, and 'uite trae, 'uite has a forcc similar to ;entirely; or ;absolutely; and is not ci/se in meanin to pretty sure. #his use is relatively rare in Am<, e)cept when a ne ative precedes 'uite> in both dialects, in fact, ne ator + 'uite, meanin ;not entirely;, is not uncommon. Academic prose has more variety in the use of non&amplifier adverbs of de ree, althou h no individual form is as fre'uent as pretty or 'uite in conversation. ?uch adverbs in academic prose modify a ran e of ad!ectives: In fact more accurate calculations lead to almost ìdenticala m.)imum efficiencies. "acad!) In eneral, then, recent evidence points to conceptual or lin uistic diffculties of a fairly `hi ha level "acad) #he ventral interradial plates are sli htly `smallera than the dorsal piafes. "acad) #hese temperatures tend to be somewhat `lowera than those in common practice. "acad) As the above e)amples illustrate, several of the collocations in academic prose have to do with markin the e)tent of comparison between two items "e. . sli htly smaller, somewhat lower). @ikewise, specifyin the amount of difference appears to be an important function for de ree adverbs in academic prose> the ad!ective different is a common collocate with several modifyin adverbs: #he laws of thermodynamics, like Fewton;s laws of motion, are 'uite `differenta in kind. "acad!) #he most strikin feature of these results is that they are rather `differenta from those reponed in the reat ma!ority of studies. "acad!) #he <uropean study asked a sli htly `differenta 'uestion. "acad t) Earburettor icin is somewhat `differenta as it can occur in very hot weather conditions. "acad) Eompared with conversation, academic prose is afe/ notable for its use of relatively. #he use of this adverb also indicates the importance of cornparisons in this re ister: 9 (owever, the morpholo y is still relatively `simplea, "acad\) 4 In any relatively `stablea society, there e)ists an e'uilibrium between the mode of production, the social relations, and the BsuperstructureB. "acad f) 7 Amphiboles occur characteristically in the plutonic rocks and in eneral are relatively ùnimportanta minerals of the volcanic rocks. "acad) #he use of relatively in these e)amples implies that measurin certain characteristics*simplicity in 9, stability in 4, and importance. in 7*depends on comparison with other members of a roup. huite is also used notably in academic prose "thou h not as commonly as in 0r< conversation). 0esides modifyin a variety of ad!ectives describin characteristics "e. . common, distinct, lar e, small), the collocates of 'uite in academic prose also include ad!ectives markin stance "clear, likely, possible), for e)ample: It is 'uite `likelya that the population will be so uni'ue that the pro!ect is not feasible. "AEAGt) 9
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Este material se reproduce con fines didcticos nicamente Biber et al. Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Longman.

Seleccin. Pp. 408-429 !"8-!#9.

Free combination*the prepositional phrase be innin with on or in marks where or when#

+attern 4: verb + F+ + preposition + F+ total

"4) 97O "6) 78O "98 6NO "41 ) )

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