- My friends are mostly(adv) non-smokers(n).
- These accounts are mostly(adv) inactive(adj).
- He is an inactive(adv) member(n).
Please verify whether what I have written within brackets are correct or not.
Please how does an adverb modify the noun?
In the 3. inactive is an adjective.
The adverb usually modifies adjectives, adverbs, verbs and the whole sentences.
It may rarely modify a noun as in: quite a noise; quite a girl; quite a long day.
Beeesneees/Dozy,
I request you to comment on my query.
Thanks.
Tkacka is right, ‘inactive’ is an adjective, not an adverb.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A soccer match[YSaerTTEW443543]
Beeesneees,
I agree ‘inactive’ is an adjective in #3 and #2 sentences.
I want clarification only for #1 sentence to know how adverb - ‘mostly’ modifies the noun ‘non-smokers’.
Please explain and clear my misunderstanding.
I don’t think ‘mostly’ modifies ‘non-smokers’. It probably modifies ‘are’.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A classroom[YSaerTTEW443543]
Beeesneees,
Please comment on the explanation of Torsten.
Could you please explain with another example.
Thanks.
Can we call it adjective when it modifies noun?
Beeesneees/Torsten,
“Do you have much(adj) free(adj) time(UN)?”
Note:
adj = adjective,
adv= adverb
UN = Uncount noun.
Are my observations quoted within the brackets correct or not?
If they are correct, how can ‘much’ - adjective modify another adjective - ‘free’?
Please be kind enough and explain its details.
Yes, ‘time’ is an uncountable noun here, ‘free’ is an adjective and ‘much’ is a determiner.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A white castle[YSaerTTEW443543]
Torsten,
You have stated ‘determiner’ is adjective.
So please explain how ‘much’ - adjective can modify another adjective - ‘free’.
Thanks.
Where did I say that determiners are adjectives? Determiners can be quantifiers such as ‘many’ as in ‘there are many great people in this place’. Now, does ‘many’ modify ‘great’? No, it doesn’t. It just determines the quantity of ‘great people’. That’s why we call ‘many’ a quantifier.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A flock of geese[YSaerTTEW443543]
No. Quite is an adverb. It is an adverb of degree. See this: oxforddictionaries.com/definitio … te?q=quite
An adverb does not qualify or modify a noun. In the above example it is followed by ‘a’ an article which is also called a determiner. And determiners are basically adjectives. So, in my opinion, ‘quite’ modifies ‘a’, not the noun.
No, ‘quite’ modifies ‘noise’, ‘girl’ and ‘long’. How can ‘a’ be modified? There either can be one noise or none. There can’t be anything in between.[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: A car carrier[YSaerTTEW443543]
AF wrote: “My friends are mostly(adv) non-smokers(n).”
Mostly doesn’t modify the noun non-smokers in the sentence. It modifies the whole sentence. It can be substituted by other adverbs like generally or usually.
I’m not convinced, Torsten. Please examine this sentence and comment: She is quite a good singer.
How can you modify ‘a’? What does ‘quite a’ mean?[YSaerTTEW443543]
TOEIC listening, photographs: Packing up[YSaerTTEW443543]
Hi Anglophile.
I wouldn’t say that determiner a is an adjective. It is simply a marker of the noun and can be compered to the particle to which is the marker of the infinitive. Both markers introduce the parts of speech: a the noun, to the verb.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hello, Tkacka:
May I most respectfully suggest another answer?
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According to what I have read, “mostly” is an “adverb” that does, indeed, “modify” the noun “non-smokers.”
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I used quotation marks around “adverb” and “modify” because modern linguists do not like those words, I hear.
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Professor Quirk and his three colleagues who wrote that famous (and huge) grammar book said that “mostly” is a subjunct (whatever that is!) that FOCUSES ON (they refuse to say “modifies”) a particular word or phrase. Sadly, they do not give any examples with “mostly.”
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Another expert gave this example using the adverb “even”:
Even Bob was there. (I guess that we can all agree that “even” focuses on – or modifies, as we ordinary people would say – the noun “Bob.”)
And he gives this example: I suggest an informal discussion occasionally. (As you can see, he writes, the adverb “is more connected to a noun than to a verb.”)
I, therefore, most respectfully disagree that “mostly” modifies the whole sentence. BUT that expert DOES say this:
Noun-oriented adverbs [that is, adverbs that focus on a noun] are “DEPENDENT ON THE REST OF THE SENTENCE FOR ITS SIGNIFICANCE.”
James
A COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE by Quirk et al., 1985 edition, page 604
REVISING THE RULES / TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR AND MODERN LINGUISTICS by Brock Haussamen, 1993 edition, pp. 116 - 117.
P.S. I guess that our dear teachers taught us that adverbs modify only verbs, adverbs, and adjectives because they did not want to confuse us by telling us that adverbs do, indeed, occasionally modify (or focus on) nouns. I think that future teachers should really teach this to their students. (The adverb “only” in this paragraph modifies / focuses on the words “verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.”)
A rather humorous note. I found a book on Google that said that “Sometimes an adverb may modify a noun or pronoun.” The book is AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR. It was published in – 1896! Yes, in 1896 – long before the birth of modern linguisitics with words like “focusing subjuncts.”