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Hi everyone -
I am learning English as a second language. I have some questions. I hope native speakers can help me with them. Thanks!
1.
At present, some scientists are studying catfish because catfish swim excitedly just before an earthquake.
Is this sentence correct? Can I say "excited" instead of "excitedly" here?
2.
a. I arrived home exhausted.
b. I arrived home exhaustedly.
c. I exhaustedly arrived home.
Which sentence is correct? Are they all correct?
3.
a. I arrived home safe.
b. I arrived home safely.
c. I safely arrived home.
Which sentence is correct? Are they all correct?
In your first sentence, excitedly is good because it qualifies the verb swim. In other words, it says that the action is performed in that manner.
In the other sentences , exhausted and safe should be used because they describe the condition of the person at arrival. They are actually adjectives that are fragments of adverbial phrases such as being exhausted, being safe. (You might think of them as pseudo adverb.)
With that as guide, you might say this : (with 2 adverbs and 2 pseudos)
I drove carefully over mountain roads, and arrived promptly and safe, though exhausted.
(Needless to say, there will be uses that will not fit with that general guide.)
1 is OK.
2. 2. A is correct. You are exhausted, rather than your arrival. Of you were to be searching, you might be exhausted (having used up your stamina) and your searching might be exhaustingly done (having used every option.)
3All three are correct, but they aren't exactly the same. If an ambulance get you to the hospital driving 90 MPH, running red lights and passing vehicles on the berm, manages to avoid accidents anyway, and gets you to the hospital in good condition, you arrived safe but not safely. If the ambulance driver drove carefully, but you had a stroke alongthe way, you arrived safely, but not safe.
Good luck in learning ESL. After half a century using it as our first language, many of us have problems with it. Many American wives complain that their husbands do not talk to them, but given that wives tend to hear what is actually said, rather than what is meant, maybe keeping the pie-hole shut has saved many marriages.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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