Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

particularly

simply

458 | Adverbs and adverb phrases

Cambridge Grammar of English

---

COPULAR VERBS (BE, SEEM) AND COMPLEMENTATION

247

Copular verbs such as be, seem, become, get, grow, look, smell, taste describe the

state of people and things, and are complemented by adjectives, not adverbs:

Hmm, it 

smells a bit funny.

(It smells a bit funnily.)

It 

looks interesting.

It 

seems odd that we were not told. 

But some of these verbs can also be used to denote actions, in which case they

may be used with adverbs:

I 

looked briefly through the papers. 

(action of looking)

She 

smelt it carefully before drinking it. 

(action of smelling)

ADVERBS USED AS SHORT RESPONSES

248

Some degree, modal and focusing adverbs occur very frequently in spoken

language as single-word responses indicating the respondent’s attitude or stance:

A: That’s a fair comment, isn’t it?

B: Absolutely.

A: It’s more for the kids, isn’t it?

B: You think so?

A: Yeah, definitely.

A: He might have been away at the time.

B: Well, possibly.

A: Didn’t you think it was just a joke?

B: Yeah, probably.

A: She’s obviously going to tear it up and throw it in the bin.

B: Precisely.

A: Well, you wear a little black dress to clubs or to a party.

B: Yeah, exactly.

A: Not easy, mind you, accommodating everything in our bedroom.

B: Well, yes, quite.

Not really

is also very commonly used in this way to soften a bare no-answer:

A: Have you been in smaller classes before?

B: Not really.