Recover completely?

Question

I wonder why quite, utterly and greatly cannot be the correct answrs? They are all adverb and they can go with recover. In terms of meaning, I don't see any problem. What do you think? Is it because of grammar or is it collocation?

Everywhere fertile soil is either built on or washed into the sea. Renewable resources are exploited so much that they will never be able to recover ______

quite greatly utterly completely

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

"Completely" is the correct answer. The other 3 words are technically okay grammatically, but less correct. This is not strictly a question of grammar, but rather of usage. Over hundreds of years of everyday use, by tradition and habit, "completely" became the most correct word to use in this situation.

Note that "quite" and "greatly," if postitioned before "recover," sound pretty good in this sentence. "Utterly" is actually okay in this sentence, but old-fashioned-sounding - that's the way people used to talk in the 19th century.

Philip · Answer

My reaction is that quite, while an adverb, as you say, really is more often used to modify an adjective or an adverb, rather than a verb, used the same as very. [He is quite intelligent; he speaks quite well.]

I seldom use utterly, but I have the same feeling for that word, as well as for greatly.

CalifJim · Answer

As Philip says, quite, greatly, utterly, and very are all 'degree items'. They say to what degree, to what extent, an adjective or adverb applies. This includes participles. And the degree item always goes before the word it modifies.

quite honest, greatly diminishing, utterly destroyed, very cheerfully

You could have 'able to recover quite well', but 'able to recover quite' makes no sense. It's incomplete. It needs another word to complete it. You could also have '... that they will never be quite able to recover', but the blank space was not in that position.

CJ

Recover completely?

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