ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: turn out right or turn out rightly

Stenka25 — Sun, 18 May 2008 06:48:24 GMT

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Thanks, all of you, Marius Hancu, Avangi, MrPedantic.

Re: turn out right or turn out rightly

MrPedantic — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:12:26 GMT

1. Things turn out right.
2. ?Things turn out rightly.

#2 would sound a little odd, in BrE; though it may well occur in other kinds of English.

In #1, I would take "turn out" as a linking verb; "right" as a subject complement.

MrP

Re: turn out right or turn out rightly

Marius Hancu — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:02:31 GMT

Also, for AmE, by searching the New York Times site with plain Google for:

site:nytimes.com "turn out right"

site:nytimes.com "turn out rightly"

it's even more pronounced:

243 from nytimes.com for "turn out right"

0 from nytimes.com for "turn out rightly"

Re: turn out right or turn out rightly

Avangi — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:58:05 GMT

I think because "rightly" is an adverb it describes the process of "turning out," while "right" as an adjective describes the product. I guess the same could be said of "correct" and "correctly." A thing turns out [to be] correct. (We need the "to be"???) "A thing turns out correctly," is more common.

Anyway, I agree that both right and rightly are useful.

- A.

Re: turn out right or turn out rightly

Marius Hancu — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:53:50 GMT

Use Google Books, it's more educated than plain Google:

http://books.google.com

10 of 64 on "turn out rightly"

794 on "turn out right" (much more frequent)

Both correct, but look at the dates of books here:

10 of 64 on "turn out rightly"

http://books.google.com/books?q=%22turn+out+rightly%22&lr=&sa=N&start=20

most of them are old, and you don't want to sound old-fashioned.

turn out right or turn out rightly

Stenka25 — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:47:12 GMT

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Another grammar question.

Recognize that only when you make the right changes to your thinking, other things begin to turn out [right/ rightly] in your life.

They say the answer is 'right,' not 'rightly.'

What I want to ask is why 'rightly' can't be used.

I did 'google' again.

And I found out...

‣The Only Thing that Counts: The Ernest Hemingway/Maxwell

Twenty-two years of correspondence between Ernest Hemingway and his editor, Maxwell Perkins, are covered in a volume...

Aug. 5, 1937

"Dear Ernest;

...If he will only begin to dramatize himself as the man who came back now, everything may turn out rightly.

I thinks 'right' and 'rightly' both should be right, even if 'right' is dominant.

What do you think?