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Marold Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Chiefly, mainly, mostly, primarily

"Chiefly, mainly, mostly, primarily"

Does a native speaker see any differences in the meaning among these four adverbs or can I use them all without any change in the meaning?

Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

They are mostly synonymous, but not always. 'Mostly' in that sentence means 'in most cases', and you couldn't substitute any of the others for it. You could try writing a few sentences containing those words and we could discuss whether or not the others would make suitable alternatives.

— Rover_KE

  • They are mostly synonymous, but not always.
  • 'Mostly' in that sentence means 'in most cases', and you couldn't substitute any of the others for it.
  • You could try writing a few sentences containing those words and we could discuss whether or not the others would make suitable alternatives.
  • Rover
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4 Answers
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They are mostly synonymous, but not always.

'Mostly' in that sentence means 'in most cases', and you couldn't substitute any of the others for it.

You could try writing a few sentences containing those words and we could discuss whether or not the others would make suitable alternatives.

Rover
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"The one of the things I mostly/chiefly/primarily/mainly do in my leisure time is relaxing."

"They are mostly/chiefly/primarily/mainly interested in all humanistic subjects."
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In the first I'd use mostly as it means on most (the greatest number of) occasions.

In the second I'd use mainly or chiefly as it's referring to their main or chief (most important) interest.

Rover
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