NOTE: Most of attitude adverbs can also function as manner adverbs it depends on how the adverb is used in the sentence. ♦ “I can see him clearly now.” = Here, clearly is an adverb of manner, as it emphasises the way something is done, which is without any obstruction. “He will clearly win the competition.” = The speaker wants to express confidence about a situation. “He won the competition, surprisingly.” = The speaker expresses a feeling of surprise because of an action he/she didn’t expect. However, hopefully is frequently misused to describe a person’s attitude about a future event. “ Honestly, I don’t think he will win the competition.” = The speaker wants to put emphasis to his/her opinion about a situation. In this sentence, hopefully is used correctly. The most commonly used are: certainly, clearly, frankly, fortunately, honestly, hopefully, incredibly, naturally, obviously, really, simply, suprisingly… They can be used at the beginning of a sentence, at the end of it, or before a verb. Generally, they refer to whole sentences and not to small phrases or words. It's a scam! (History and origin of the word 'scam.Adverbs of attitude express the speaker’s attitude towards an action that is being described.Forgo, foregoing, foregone.but please not 'forwent'.Should You Spell Out Numbers In Legal Documents?.What does 'anodyne' mean? It's really not very exciting.Panhandler: Its Origins Are Unclear, But Its Meaning Isn't.Another so-called (or is it so called?) blog post.Thanks, Richard Nordquist: you’ve got a new fan. If you’d like some further reading on the topic (examples, explanation, etc.), this is a good place to start. I normally tell people, especially students, to avoid (the typical quality of information there is atrocious), but this article on sentence adverbs is very well done. However, in doing additional research on both hopefully and the sentence adverb, I came across an excellent online source that’s worth sharing. As with much of the information I use here, I owe the foundation of my knowledge of this topic to Garner’s ever-useful GMAU. That’s probably enough to introduce the idea of sentence adverbs. That fact – that it’s not a sentence adverb – is part of the ammunition traditionally used to shoot down hopefully in the “ I hope” usage. The key point runs that a sentence adverb can’t resolve to the form “ in a(an) _ manner.” In the examples just above, you could say that Ted laughed “ in an ironic manner,” but you can’t write that von Richtofen’s plans had been set in motion “ in an ironic manner.” The logic then continues that since hopefully can in fact resolve to “ in a hopeful manner” (and remember, that’s the only resolution in the old sense), then it’s not a sentence adverb.

(Ironically is used as a sentence adverb here, modifying the entire clause that makes up the second half of the sentence.) It was an ironic laugh.)īut von Richtofen was now at Ted’s mercy, ironically because of plans he had set in motion himself. (Ironically applies as an adverb only to laughed. Ted smiled and laughed ironically at von Richtofen’s jest.

A sentence adverb is an adverb that applies to an entire clause, or an entire sentence a simple, run-of-the-mill adverb, on the other hand, modifies only a single word: One of the reasons frequently claimed for not accepting the prevalent colloquial usage of hopefully has been that it does not function the same as other sentence adverbs: words like apparently, fortunately, ironically, sadly, and so on. (The only acceptable usage according to many curmudgeons.)

Spot waited hopefully for a second dog biscuit. Hopefully, you received a large tax refund this year. Last Friday’s post discussed AP Style‘s acceptance (at long last) of hopefully to mean “ I hope” (or we hope, or it is hoped) as opposed to the rigid traditional meaning of “ in a hopeful manner” (or “ with hope“).

Hopefully in a sentence