A Dictionary of Cont..

the compound verb cur off. This is the proper
interpretation whenever it is possible to place
the object between the verb and the other word
without altering the sense, as in cut an inch
off. Zn step off the rug, on the other hand, the
word ofi is a preposition and has its own
object rug. This is the proper interpretation
when we cannot place the object immediately
after the verb and say step the rug 08.
Compound verbs, such as pick up and cut
08 are natural English. They are simple and
forceful and are generally preferred to their
Latin equivalents. So give up is often preferred
to relinquish; give in to acquiesce: call out to
evoke; take up to assume; bring in to introduce.
The form fits our speech rhythm so well
that we often use these extra syllables when
they add nothing to the meaning, as in fill up,
eat up, drink down. The independent element
in a compound verb which is not affected by
changes in tense is an adverb, although it is
not used exactly as other adverbs are.
5. Any adverb that does not belong in one
of the preceding groups is to be classed as a
descriptive adverb. Adverbs of degree, such as
too, so, very, pretty, are included in this class.
A great many descriptive adverbs are formed
from adjectives by adding -ly, as in quickly,
slowly, highly, hardly. Some of these adverbs
have two forms: with and without the -ly, as
in drive slow, drove slowly; come quick, come
quickly. Descriptive adverbs may also have
three forms known as the positive, the comparative,
and the superlative. See comparison
of adjectives and adverbs.
USES OF ADVERBS
1. The principal function of an adverb
is to qualify a verb, as in run quickly, speak
louder. Since the verb is the essential element
in a statement and not a detachable part of
it, an adverb in this role normally qualifies
the entire statement. For example, in I never
saw a purple cow the word never applies to
suw a purple cow and not to the single word
saw. Adverbs used in this way are called sentence
adverbs. They may stand in any of
several positions in a sentence, but each position
has its special limitations or special
emphasis and as a rule there is very little
choice about where a particular adverb should
be placed. The most important problems in the
use of adverbs have to do with placing sentence
adverbs. See sentence adverbs.
In some situations an adverb may qualify
the verb itself rather than the entire statement.
Adverbs of direction are not sentence adverbs.
They affect the meaning of the verb
itself and cannot be used in the various
positions that are characteristic of sentence
adverbs. In modern English an adverb of
direction that stands before the verb is usually
written as a solid compound with it, as in
undertake, overturn, upset. Occasionally an
adverb that is actually the second element, and
not the first, is placed before the subject of the
verb, as in up he got and down he came. This
17 adverbs
word order is so unusual that it is felt as “poetic
license.” In natural English, an adverb of this
kind that is treated as an independent word must
follow the verb.
Even then, there is very little choice about
where it can be placed. The indirect object of
a compound verb must always stand between the
two parts of the compound, as Mother in send
Mother up some tea and her in send her up
some. If an indirect object is undesirable in
this position for any reason, it must be re
placed by a prepositional phrase, as in send
some up to Mother. (See indirect object.) A
pronoun usually stands between the two elements
even when it is a direct object as in send
it up. A noun that is the direct object of a
compound verb may stand between the two
elements or may follow the second, as in send
the box up and send up the box.
People who claim that “a preposition cannot
follow its object” sometimes do not recognize
the difference between a preposition and the
second element in a compound verb. In their
anxiety to be correct, they may misplace these
adverbs. In a construction of this kind it is
always proper for the adverb to follow the
object. And if the object is a pronoun, that
is the preferred position for the adverb. Send
up it is not literary English!
Occasionally an adverb belonging to one of
the other groups is used to qualify the verb
itself rather than the full statement. In this
case, the adverb stands immediately before
the element in the verb that it qualifies. This
is often one of the positions for a sentence
adverb. The fact that the adverb is qualifying
only one word is shown in speech by a heavy
stress on that one word. For example, if a
special stress is given to said in Z never said
he was a fool, the implication is I only thought
so. In this case never qualifies the isolated
word said. But this is an unusual construction.
In written English the words will be read
without stress and the adverb taken as a
sentence adverb unless it is made clear that
this is not the proper interpretation.
2. An adverb may qualify an adjective. As
a rule, an adverb that qualifies an adjective
is an adverb of degree, as in a very red face,
a mildly hot day, an astonishingly thin child.
Occasionally it may show manner, as in a
charmingly naive reply, an attractively stout
matron. A predicate adjective or an appositive
adjective may sometimes be followed by a
qualifying adverb, as in it is lukewarm only,
I am sick almost, a piece of rope longer still.
But the normal position for any adverb except
a sentence adverb is immediately before the
word it qualifies. In this role it normally qualities
the following word and no others.
Adverbs of degree, however, may qualify
the word a or an, and so have the effect of
qualifying the following noun and any intervening
adjectives. For example, in a quite
small child, quite is an adverb of degree qualifying
small. But in quite a small child it