/ Less often, quite is used between a / an and an adjective, where it means ‘completely’: 1s a quite remarkable story. ‘The usual position for rather is between a / an and an adjective. Less often, but with a similar meaning, rather is used before a / an and an adjective: My mother was a rather gentle woman. or My mother was rather a gentle woman. @) With a singular noun or a lot of but no adjective, rather must come before a / an: ® There was rather a shortage of teachers at the time. (not There-was-a-rather shortage ...) Thad rather a lot of writing to do, (not Lhad-a-rather-lot-of writing to-do.) already, yet, still Already can go in either mid or end position: Id already decided that I wanted to write about a single-parent family. or I'd decided already that ... Yet is usually put in end position in negatives, questions and expressions of uncertainty: I don't know if I can tell you yet. Still usually goes in mid position: I'm still sketching out the plot. even, only Even and only usually go in mid position, but if they refer to the subject they usually come before it: He can even speak Swedish. Sometimes even I'm surprised. Only my close family had read anything I'd written. The meaning of really can change according to its position in a sentence. Immediately before an adjective it means ‘very’. In other positions it can mean ‘actually’ or ‘in fact’: Td been feeling really tired. My friends thought I was joking, but I really had decided to leave teaching. 3 Position of adjectives his excellent novel his novel is excellent Many adjectives can be used either before the noun they describe, or following the noun and a linking verb such as be, become, feel and seem that connects a subject with a word or phrase that describes the subject The following adjectives can be used immediately after a noun: @ many participle adjectives: There'll be a lot of people waiting eagerly to get hold of it. (= a lot of people who will be waiting) Some of the geographical settings used in A Woman Alone are based on places I visited. (= settings which are used in A Woman Alone) © adjectives used after indefinite pronouns (e.g. something, nothing): [really don't think it was anything special. There was nothing extraordinary about my first novel. 64