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ESL forum > Ask for help > HELP PLEASE    

HELP PLEASE



curk
Spain

HELP PLEASE
 
 
      Can anyone tell me whether it is right to say this or not:
 
      Could you speak louder / slower?  o  r Could you speak more loudly / more slowly?

17 Mar 2015      





cunliffe
United Kingdom

I prefer �more loudly � and �more slowly � and I think that is more �correct � as in theory you need adverbs, but most people just say �louder � and �slower �. I don �t think anyone would bother to argue with you about it. 

17 Mar 2015     



almaz
United Kingdom

No, I don �t imagine that anyone would, or could, argue – mainly because �loud � and �slow � can be both adjectives and adverbs. (source: any half-decent dictionary or usage guide)
 
...but O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes!
(Shakespeare, Midsummer Night �s Dream

17 Mar 2015     



curk
Spain

 
   THANK YOU  

18 Mar 2015     



cunliffe
United Kingdom

Almaz, interesting as usual, but I wouldn �t want to be teaching kids �he walks slow � etc. 

18 Mar 2015     



Gi2gi
Georgia

Agree, no matter how "not native speaker" I am, "slow" as an adverb is a hell of a deviation from grammar...

18 Mar 2015     



almaz
United Kingdom

I have absolutely no idea what you �re trying to say, Gi2gi.

18 Mar 2015     



Gi2gi
Georgia

Ok, paraphrase: "slow" as an adverb sounds  pretty   bullshit   to me (although, I daresay, some might find it natural to say say so)... I would not, anyway,  (a bad teacher, as I am)   teach kids  to ask very respected native speakers to  "speak loud and slow so that we may hear you"

18 Mar 2015     



almaz
United Kingdom

Presumably you wrote that without checking a dictionary. It �s sometimes called a �flat adverb � - see here: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/flat-adverbs-are-flat-out-useful/

18 Mar 2015     



cunliffe
United Kingdom

Hi almaz, I �ve checked this link and in the examples given of a phenomenon called a �flat adverb � (?) the word is used in an adjectival sense, for example, �jump high �. That has nothing to do with how or the manner in which you jump. Maybe �pseudo adverb� is a more acceptable term. 

18 Mar 2015     



almaz
United Kingdom

Read it again, Lynne. No, don �t bother. Here �s what it actually says about �slow �:

 Slow: Slow and slowly are interchangeable: �Drive slow� and �Drive slowly� mean the same thing. 

Incidentally, have you bothered to check a dictionary entry on the word �slow �? You �ll find that if you continue beyond �adjective �, you �ll reach �adverb �.

18 Mar 2015     

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