By Adverbs, Jokes

i.Those who took the courses are able to study more efficiently. Those who took the courses are able to study more efficient.The original sentence is the first one. I thought of the second one when I read the first one, because I thought after the 'more' should be an adjective, not an...

Thanks Doll and Paulio.sorry didn't write down why I have doubt with these questions.i.Those who took the courses are able to study more efficiently. Those who took the courses are able to study more efficient.The original sentence is the first one. I thought of the second one when I read the...

Thank you very much for your help. Now I have understood what is 'straight-faced'jokes Since my computer has been out of work, it is not until today can i read your reply and say thank you Can you please explain to me more thoroughly the meaning of the sentence ( i can't get the idea here) 'As...

Hi, I do not think that even a language without adverbs of time could prevent its speakers from having a concept of time. My wife has no concept of time. (Cheap joke, rim-shot. And not actually true, in case she reads this.) Best wishes, Clive

Hi Tung QuocIf you place an adverb of time (now) at the beginning of the sentence, it is more emphatic:Now I understand everything.I understand everything now.Both are correct.It is usually not a good idea to put anything between the main verb (understand) and its object (everything), and word...

Umm... Thank you, Alienvoord, IK.I thought this way: "His joke fell flat" is nearly equal to "His joke appeared to be flat (=dull)" just as in "He fell ill" = "He became ill." But now I think it's possible to take it as a figurative idiom. Thank you both again.(BTW, Alienvoord, aren't you a...

Could anybody explain to me why flat is an adjective in the first sentence and direct is an adverb in the second, please. The jokes were flat. flat describes jokes. flat tells what kind of jokes they were. They were flat jokes. You may be thinking that flat describes how the jokes fell,...

Thats' right, IK, "flat" can function as both and adverb and an adjective. We can tell which one it is by its distribution. The countertop is flat. The countertop is white. We can replace it with an adjective, so it's an adjective here. He fell flat on his face. He fell clumsily. We can...

I think it is, yes. But it's also an idiom. We can't replace "flat" here with another adverb. We can say "He fell flat on his face" or "He fell clumsily" but we do not say "The joke fell clumsily."

Alienvoord wrote:As Grammar Geek says, these are adverbs. Hi Alienvoord, I have a question, 'cause I took that "flat" as an adjective. So when I read GG's post, Grammar Geek wrote:A person can fall "flat on his face" - and in that case, it's a little more literal and it would be an adverb...