Blog about English
Using adverbs that modify an entire sentence, such as probably, fortunately and obviously.
Sentence adverbs modify an entire sentence rather than a single word.
They express the speaker's attitude, opinion, certainty, evaluation or perspective toward the whole statement.
Common sentence adverbs include probably, certainly, definitely, perhaps, maybe, fortunately, unfortunately, obviously, clearly and honestly.
Each comments on the whole sentence rather than on a particular verb or adjective.
Sentence adverbs most commonly appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.
Their position depends on emphasis, style and the intended meaning.
When placed in mid position, sentence adverbs usually follow the first auxiliary verb or precede the main verb.
Examples include She has probably finished and They will certainly agree.
Sentence adverbs can express certainty, probability, evaluation, attitude, viewpoint or style.
Examples include certainly, perhaps, fortunately, frankly, personally and technically.
Some sentence adverbs comment on how a statement should be interpreted.
Examples include frankly, honestly, personally, politically, theoretically and practically.
Sentence adverbs are often separated by commas when they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Punctuation depends on their position and function in the sentence.
Changing the position of a sentence adverb may alter emphasis while preserving the basic meaning.
Front position often makes the speaker's attitude more prominent.
Sentence adverbs contribute to cohesion and help organize information in spoken and written discourse.
They guide the listener or reader in interpreting the speaker's viewpoint.
Sentence adverbs belong to several semantic classes, including epistemic, evaluative, attitudinal and viewpoint adverbs.
These categories reflect different relationships between the speaker and the proposition.
The choice of sentence adverbs varies across formal, informal and academic English.
Some sentence adverbs are characteristic of particular registers or communicative styles.
Place sentence adverbs correctly and distinguish them from ordinary adverbs.
Common mistakes include incorrect word order, confusing sentence adverbs with manner adverbs, omitting commas where appropriate and translating sentence adverbs directly from another language.