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Comment on Tidbit - Hopefully and Other Adverbs
Can you explain broadly
Sorry, I'm not sure what you
Sorry, I'm not sure what you're asking. Can you tell me which sentence(s) you're referring to?
"Zack is Dan's suspicious
Ahh, good question. It all
Ahh, good question. It all comes down to what word we are modifying. And intent.
In "Helen saw a seemingly intoxicated man in her backyard", the word "seemingly" is modifying the adjective "intoxicated." Since we have a word modifying an adjective then we need an adverb. "seemingly" is the adverb we need.
In "Zack is Dan's suspicious older brother," we need to ask what the word "suspicious" is modifying. My intent was to modify the noun "brother." That is, the brother is both suspicious and older. So, I used the two adjectives "suspicious" and "older."
If want to say that it's suspicious that the brother is older, then we're modifying an adjective, and we need suspiciously. I guess it's possible that it might be suspicious that one's brother is older. So, if that were the case, then "suspiciously" would be appropriate.
Is seeming a linking verb or
Yes, "seeming" can be a
Yes, "seeming" can be a linking verb as in, "Joe can drive for 24 hours without seeming tired."
Likewise, "seem" and "seems" typically behave as linking verbs.
Just keep in mind what a linking verb is. It's a verb that's followed by an adjective that describes a "state of being." For example, in the sentence, "Joe is great," the word "is" is a linking verb, and "great" describes Joe's state of being.
In the sentence 'I hope my
This sentence has two verb
This sentence has two verb and two subjects.
The first verb is HOPE, and I is the subject (who is performing the action of hoping? I is performing that action, so I is the subject.
The second verb is ARRIVES, and PLANE is the subject (who/what is performing the action of arriving? The PLANE is performing that action, so PLANE is the subject.
For more on subjects and verbs, watch: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1153
Also, you'll find info on adjectives here: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-sentence-correction/video/1150 (starting at 4:40)
Cheers,
Brent
Hi Brent! How do I know what
That's a tough question.
That's a tough question.
In most cases, the context should indicate the intended meaning.
Case a) If SEEMING is meant to modify the adjective INTOXICATED (i.e., the man SEEMS intoxicated) then we need the adverb SEEMINGLY.
Case b) If SEEMING is meant to modify the noun MAN (i.e., the person SEEMS like a man) then we need the adjective SEEMING.
In this case, case a makes more sense.
Rest assured that the GMAT test-makers try their hardest to minimize any confusion regarding the intended meaning of a sentence.
Cheers,
Brent
Thank you so much Brent! I
Is the below sentence correct
Hopefully, my plane should arrive on time.
Would the verb should be able to occur hopefully?
There are very few verbs that
There are very few verbs that can be performed in a HOPEFUL manner.
In your example (Hopefully, my plane should arrive on time), the addition of SHOULD does not make the sentence correct.
It helps if we ask the question about the verb in a given sentence.
Consider this sentence: "Joe looked at Sue hopefully"
Tell me more about the way in which Joe performed the act of LOOKING.
He did so in a HOPEFUL manner.
In other words, he did so HOPEFULLY.
Now compare this to your sentence: Hopefully, my plane should arrive on time
Tell me more about the way in which the plane SHOULD ARRIVE.
The plane should do so in a HOPEFUL manner.
Hmmmm. No good. A plane cannot do anything in a HOPEFUL manner.
Does that help?
Cheers,
Brent
How do I decide my adverb
It all comes down to word
It all comes down to word location and context.
Let's look at some examples:
1) Joe bought a beautiful hat: BEAUTIFUL is an adjective modifying HAT
2) Joe bought a very beautiful hat: VERY is an adverb modifying BEAUTIFUL (Q: How beautiful? A: Very)
In this example, even though VERY is an adverb, it's pretty clear that is not modify the verb BOUGHT.
Another example:
3) Joe displayed his painted figurines: PAINTED is an adjective modifying FIGURINES (Q: What kind of figurines? A: Painted ones)
4) Joe displayed his carefully painted figurines: CAREFULLY is an adverb modifying the adjective PAINTED (Q: How were the figurines painted? A: Carefully)
5) Joe carefully displayed his painted figurines: CAREFULLY is an adverb modifying the verb DISPLAYED (Q: How were the figurines displayed? A: Carefully)
Notice that the difference between sentence 4 and 5 is the location of the adjective CAREFULLY.
Does that help?
Cheers,
Brent