B2 Adverbs and adverbial phrases

B2 VOCABULARY: ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES

Apparently I'm Retired Now

PICTURE

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"Freedom, it turns out, arrives unfurnished."

hard / hardly · late / lately · still / yet · in the end / at the end · comment adverbs

Reading

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

The traps in your language

Translate mentally into your own language: hard and hardly, late and lately.

• Do the pairs exist in your language, or is this purely an English trap?

• How comfortable are you with your own usage of these adverbs?

• Can you think of any other traps like this in English?

PICTURE

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B1 · VOCABULARY

Choose the correct adverb. Then define the difference in each pair.

1. He trains hard / hardly - three hours a day. · It's so foggy I can hard / hardly see.

2. She arrived late / lately again. · I haven't seen him much late / lately.

3. Is there a bank near / nearly here? · I've near / nearly finished - last page.

4. Have you found a flat still / yet? · He's forty and still / yet lives with his parents.

5. Have you ever / even been to Georgia? · He didn't ever / even say goodbye.

6. I love all cheese, but especially / specially blue cheese. · The cake was especially / specially made for the occasion.

7. She looks about thirty, but at the moment / actually she's forty-five. · I'm between jobs at the moment / actually.

8. In the end / At the end of the film, everyone cried. · We argued for an hour, but in the end / at the end she agreed.

B2 · VOCABULARY

Comment adverbs: match each one to its function.

1. in fact

2. eventually

3. ideally

4. basically

5. apparently

6. certainly

7. obviously

8. gradually

a) in a perfect world

b) the truth is - often contradicting what was just said

c) in the main, most important way

d) clearly, as everyone can see

e) little by little

f) according to what I've heard

g) without doubt

h) in the end, after difficulties

C · BEFORE YOU READ

Forty-one years, then nothing

Tibor worked his last shift as a printer six months ago. Everyone had advice: take it slowly, have a routine, whatever you do, don't just sit at home.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

1. What did Tibor expect retirement to be like?

2. What is it actually like?

3. First: what do you imagine you'll miss most about working?

PICTURE

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C · READING

Apparently I'm retired now

"Freedom, it turns out, arrives unfurnished."

Six months ago I worked my last shift after forty-one years as a printer, and everyone had advice. Take it slowly, they said. Ideally, you should have a routine. Whatever you do, don't just sit at home. I nodded, went home, and - obviously - sat at home.

The first weeks were strange. I hardly slept, which surprised me; I'd assumed a man with nothing to wake up for would sleep like a millionaire. I still woke at ten to five, my body reporting for a shift that no longer existed. I'd lie there in the dark, listening to the flat tick, feeling - there's no dignified way to say this - nearly useless. My wife, who retired three years before me and has never once looked back, watched all this with the patience of a scientist observing a confused animal.

People kept asking how I was finding it, and I kept saying "fine", which was basically a lie. In fact I

I missed everything: the noise, the deadlines, the arguments about football, even the terrible coffee - especially the terrible coffee, oddly, because the coffee was where the people were. What I'd loved, apparently, was never the printing. Nobody tells you that in advance. They give you a card and a pen set at the end of your last day, and the card says Enjoy your freedom!, and freedom, it turns out, arrives unfurnished.

The turn came gradually, and - of course - by accident. In March my neighbour asked whether I could fix her sticking door, since I "was free". I fixed the door. Her sister, apparently, also had a door situation. By May I was the unofficial repairman of three streets; by June my wife was taking bookings and I hadn't yet accepted a single coin - payment arrives as lemon cake, tomato plants and gossip, a currency I'm growing rich in.

C · READING (continued)

Apparently I'm retired now

Have I stopped missing the old life? Not completely, and I don't expect to yet. But lately the ten-to-five wakings have gone; I sleep until a scandalous six-fifteen. Last week a young man at the hardware shop called me "the door guy", and I stood a little straighter. Ideally, I suppose, I'd have discovered forty years ago that what I actually do is fix things and talk to people, and that paper was only ever the excuse. In the end, though, I got there. Slowly. Eventually. Like everything worth arriving at.

D · COMPREHENSION

Right or wrong? Correct the wrong ones.

1. Tibor slept better than expected in the first weeks.

2. He continued waking at his old shift time.

3. He genuinely missed the printing itself most of all.

4. His new role began when a neighbour asked for help.

5. He now charges his neighbours a small fee.

6. He still wakes at ten to five.

E · LANGUAGE FOCUS

Hunt the pairs, then check the position

1. Find in the text: hardly · still · nearly · especially · apparently (twice) · lately · yet · in the end · at the end. For each, say which "twin" it could be confused with, and why the twin would be wrong there.

2. Apparently appears twice with slightly different meanings. What's the difference?

3. Position matters. Where does hardly go relative to the verb (I hardly slept)? Where does still go (I still woke)? And where does yet go (I don't expect to yet)?

4. Tone. What does each comment adverb contribute: obviously, sat at home · apparently, also had a door situation · ideally, I suppose?

5. What punctuation usually follows a comment adverb at the start of a sentence?

F1 · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Choose the correct adverb.

1. I've hard / hardly eaten anything today - I'm starving.

2. Have you spoken to Dagny lately / late? She's been quiet.

3. The shop is quite near / nearly - five minutes' walk.

4. Are you ready still / yet? The taxi's outside!

5. He didn't even / ever apologise. Not one word.

6. This suit was especially / specially tailored for the wedding.

7. Everyone thinks they argued, but actually / at the moment they get on very well.

8. We waited two hours, but at the end / in the end we gave up and went home.

9. She's still / yet deciding - don't rush her.

10. I near / nearly fell off the ladder. Near / Nearly!

F2 · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Complete with a comment adverb.

Use: in fact · eventually · ideally · basically · apparently · certainly · obviously · gradually.

1. ______, we'd move somewhere warmer - but the grandchildren are here.

2. ______, the new neighbours are musicians. That's what the postman says, anyway.

3. The instructions look complicated, but ______ you just press the green button.

4. It rained all week, so ______ the barbecue is cancelled.

5. People say the town is dying, but ______ the population is growing.

6. Her health improved ______, week by week.

7. After four attempts, the door ______ opened.

8. I can't promise it'll be fun, but it will ______ be memorable.

G · FREER PRACTICE

The retirement speech

You're giving a two-minute speech at your own retirement - real or imagined, decades from now.

• Draft five sentences using at least one hardly, one in the end, one especially, one apparently and one ideally.

• Deliver it with feeling. The class listens for adverb errors: every correct comment adverb earns a nod, every hardly / hard confusion earns a gentle gasp.

• Homework (optional): write "Apparently I'm ______ now" (100-130 words) about any life change - new job, new city, new baby, new hobby - using at least eight target adverbs correctly.

PICTURE

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TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B1 1 hard / hardly · 2 late / lately · 3 near / nearly · 4 yet / still · 5 ever / even · 6 especially / specially · 7 actually / at the moment · 8 At the end / in the end.

B2 1 ideally · 2 in fact · 3 basically · 4 obviously · 5 gradually · 6 apparently · 7 certainly · 8 eventually.

C GIST He expected freedom and rest; he got emptiness and disorientation. He missed the people, not the printing, and gradually became the neighbourhood repairman - and recovered his sense of purpose.

D 1 Wrong - he hardly slept. 2 Right. 3 Wrong - he missed the people and the coffee, not the printing itself. 4 Right. 5 Wrong - he's paid in cake, tomato plants and gossip. 6 Wrong - lately he sleeps until 6.15.

E Apparently first means "as it turned out, evidently" (his own discovery); the second means "according to what I was told". Position: hardly before the main verb; still before the verb but after be; yet at the end of negatives and questions. A sentence-initial comment adverb is normally followed by a comma.

F1 1 hardly · 2 lately · 3 near · 4 yet · 5 even · 6 specially · 7 actually · 8 in the end · 9 still · 10 nearly / Nearly.

F2 1 Ideally · 2 Apparently · 3 basically · 4 obviously · 5 in fact · 6 gradually · 7 eventually · 8 certainly.