Adverbials

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Hello Lal,

Yes, it is perfectly fine to use a full stop. An exclamation mark (!) would also be fine if you wanted to indicate surprise or a very strong reaction, or to show sarcasm.

Don't forget to ise a capital letter after the full stop.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Sir Please let me know either both or only one is correct. then which one. e.g He quietly shut the door. He shut the door quietly.. Thank you. Rrgards

Hi Lal,

The second one is much more common than the first and is the sentence I would recommend you use. The first one is not exactly wrong, but would only be used in some kind of specific context.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

I am confused about the use of "most" or "the most". Is it correct to say " I love all people but I love my parents most." or ".....the most" and why? Thank you.

Hello Ahmed Imam,

You can use either 'most' or 'the most' as adverbs. Both are correct and there is no difference in meaning.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, there is a rule that one should use 'the' before superlatives, and as 'most' is a superlative, we should use 'the' before it, isn't it? Would I be grammatically correct if we write just 'most'.

Hello ali shah,

'most' is a very common word that is used not only in superlative constructions, but also, for example, as a quantifier, so it really depends on the particular sentence and the speaker's meaning. If you have a question about a specific sentence, please feel free to ask us about it, though please also tell us how you understand it to be correct or incorrect.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, We'll give our listeners a choice of two songs to get one of them played on the radio by us and they'll decide (choose) as to which song to be played. Two more sentences In this regard. Could you please tell me as to what songs you have played so far on the radio. I have no explanation about 'as to' How and why they did it. Now this question is, Can we drop the preposition 'as to', is it even necessary to use it here if not, then why, where are we supposed to use 'as to' or 'about' exactly ?

Hi SonuKumar,

I wouldn't use 'as to' in any of the sentences you ask about. If you remove 'as to', they are both correct, though the first one needs the word 'is' before 'to be played' to be grammatical.

'as to' means something like 'regarding', but is fairly rare, especially in contexts that are not formal. It doesn't seem natural to me to use it in either of the contexts these sentences suggest, so I'd be hard pressed to explain why someone used them there.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

'At the Learn English or on the Learn English', I know both prepositions 'at' and 'on' are used, but I'm just wondering why the speaket uses 'at' and why use 'on'? So that I get the point/reason. For example. Articles at the Learn English are very helpful. Articles on the Learn English are very helpful. At Wikipedia or on Wikipedia

Hi whitekrystal,

I'm afraid I couldn't find the sentence that you are referring to. In any case, I'm not sure I could have explained the usage of 'at' or 'on', as both can be used in some cases. In general, I think people speak of content being 'on' a website and of performing actions 'at' websites, though I doubt you will find much consistency here.

I would say 'The articles on LearnEnglish are helpful'. As for the Wikipedia, honestly I'd probably say 'Wikipedia articles are useful', but if I had to say it another way, I'd probably say 'on the Wikipedia'.

I'm sorry I can't give you a firmer answer. As far as I know, there is quite a bit of variation here.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Good evening! I wanted to know if the following sentence is grammatically correct . "As he is rich, he is not happy." Thanks!

Hello Prap,

Yes, it is grammatically correct. In cases like this, though, we tend to use 'because' instead of 'as', unless it is formal writing. 'He is not happy because he is rich' or 'The reason his is not happy is because he is rich' are other more natural-sounding alternatives.

Best regards,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Hi. If I remember correctly, we can use simple or continuous aspect after 'as'. But are these correct sentences? 1. Just as he raised his harpoon, silence broke. 2. As he ran towards the children, he slipped. Thank you.

Hello Marua,

Yes, that is correct -- both aspects are possible and the verb forms you use after 'as' in these two sentences are correct. 'silence broke' isn't clear to me, though; perhaps 'the silence was broken'?

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Teachers, Could you kindly tell me which of the following sentences is correct with explanation: 1. I am very disappointed/tired. 2. I am very much disappointed/tired. 3. I am much disappointed/tired. 4. I am much too disappointed/tired. 5. I am too much disappointed/tired.

Dear Teachers, Please comment.

Hello souba73,

The first one is the correct one. We're happy to help you understand this, but please tell us why you think the others may not be correct and we'll correct you as needed.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Is this phrase gramatically correct? "Although Chirstmas season is in summer in Australia,..." "in Australia" is an adverbial of place, right?

Hello viettungvuong,

The sentence needs to be slightly changed:

Although Christmas is in the summer in Australia...

We generally just say 'Christmas' for the whole period as well as for just the day.

'In Australia' is an adverbial of place. You can read more about these on this page.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello team : can we use adverb to describe nouns I read this sentence in subtital of can programm (it's named for rabidly declining low system) why here rapidly not rapid

Hello nkmg,

The adverb 'rabidly' here does not describe a noun but an adjective: rabidly (adv) declining (adj).

Adverbs can describe pronouns but not nouns: absolutely everyone / hardly anyone / nearly all.

Certain adverbs can also function as adjectives, but they are not adverbs when used in this way: the very idea shocks me / at the very bottom of the sea.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, A restaurant on the top of the building. A restaurant at the top of the building. Which one is correct? Thanks!

Hello Manishb,

'At' has a more general meaning than 'on'. When we say 'at the top of the building' we might mean anything from the top floor or two to the actual roof, while 'on the top of the building' would be used when something is literally standing on the roof.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Kirk; How can I get a plan of study?

Hello Emerson,

LearnEnglish is not a course in the conventional sense so we do not have plans of study for our users. Instead, the site functions as an open-access organised collection of materials for guided self-study. You can search for materials by level, topic or language structure and organise your own study.

For more information on how to use LearnEnglish please visit our Getting Started page.

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Adverbials

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