Here's a question from my english final.
see if you can figure it out:
The father built the lavishly fancy boat for the son.
what is the word lavishly here?
an adverb or adjective.
my friends and i have come into disagreement over this. so i need another opinion. if it's something else you could post that.
thanks!
2007-06-12 09:17:16 · 17 answers · asked by Goldfish 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It's an adverb--the "-ly" gives it away.
2007-06-12 09:20:36 · answer #1 · answered by Justin B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The problem you have is that you have used an adverb (lavishly) as an adjective. Descriptive words ending in ..ly are usually adverbs which describes an action. So you could say that he built the boat lavishly or 'He built the boat in a lavish fashion.' using lavish as an adjective that describes a noun, in this case 'fashion'. What you have done is, grammatically incorrect. You should have said 'The father built the lavish, fancy boat for his son.' This means that lavish is an adjective describing the boat. The way you have written it implies that 'fancy' is being described rather than the boat. However it is a matter of common usage to say such things like' The building was frighteningly high.' Words used in such a fashion are known as 'derivatives'.
2007-06-12 09:29:30 · answer #2 · answered by quatt47 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First of all, that's unnecessary redundancy - lavish and fancy are basically the same thing. And adverb does end in -ly, however, it would mean that it is also a verb. Basically it would be an adverb if you said lavishly decorated. I would say in this instance, it would be an adjective but there should be a comma after it. What did your teacher say?
2007-06-12 09:21:56 · answer #3 · answered by katysru19 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In this sentence the adverb "lavishly " modifies the adjective "fancy"
so lavishly is the adverb and fancy is adjective
2007-06-12 09:23:49 · answer #4 · answered by dmck105 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Adverb - it's modifying the adjective "fancy"
Adjective modifies a noun, adverb modified a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
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ad·verb /ËædvÉrb/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ad-vurb] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA
any member of a class of words that in many languages are distinguished in form, as partly in English by the ending -ly, or by functioning as modifiers of verbs or clauses, and in some languages, as Latin and English, also as modifiers of adjectives or other adverbs or adverbial phrases, as very, well, quickly. Adverbs typically express some relation of place, time, manner, attendant circumstance, degree, cause, inference, result, condition, exception, concession, purpose, or means.
2007-06-12 09:22:09 · answer #5 · answered by Leeroy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"lavishly" in this sentence is an adverb since it modifies the adjective fancy. adverbs modify either an adjective, a verb or another adverb. hope this helps
2007-06-12 09:24:25 · answer #6 · answered by happy017 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lavishly is an adverb. Usually adverbs end in 'ly.'
2007-06-12 09:20:42 · answer #7 · answered by xchaitea 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the word is lavishly because it is an adverb modifying an adjective.
2007-06-12 09:21:27 · answer #8 · answered by Jackson A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to Dictionary.com, lavishly is an adverb. I'm buying that, too.
2007-06-12 09:29:42 · answer #9 · answered by Josh K 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's an adverb, modifying the adjective 'fancy'.
2007-06-12 09:20:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's an adverb because it modifies an adjective, in this case, the word fancy.
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch24.html
2007-06-12 09:21:47 · answer #11 · answered by cardinalfanusa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋