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Valinova Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Identifying adverbs

Here is a paragraph I'm working through, identifying adverbs:

"Except for barren and high mountain areas, food grows well. The Tlinget People had plenty to eat, so they were not nomads like many native tribes elsewhere. Also, the high mountain ranges isolated them."

1. Is "many" an adverb, since it's modifying "native" in "native tribes"?

2. Is "high" an adverb? It looks like "mountain' is an adjective describing both "areas" and "ranges", so "high" would be the adverb describing "mountain"?

I've been thinking about this to the point I've confused myself. Emotion: sad
  

Top answer

1. No, "many" is a degree determinative. It's not modifying the adjective "native", but serves as a determiner in the noun phrase "native tribes".

— BillJ

  • 1.
  • No, "many" is a degree determinative.
  • It's not modifying the adjective "native", but serves as a determiner in the noun phrase "native tribes".
  • The presence of the adjective "native" in the middle of the phrase makes no difference.
  • It's no different to "many tribes", "many long-extinct tribes", "many people", "many famous people", and so on.
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2 Answers
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1. No, "many" is a degree determinative. It's not modifying the adjective "native", but serves as a determiner in the noun phrase "native tribes". The presence of the adjective "native" in the middle of the phrase makes no difference. It's no different to "many tribes", "many long-extinct tribes", "many people", "many famous people", and so on. Traditionally, determinatives like "many" were called
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Thank-you for your help!
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