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Please weigh in on this grammar question.


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Yes, it is, when it modifies an adjective.

 

 

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lovely?s=t

 

Well if you look at the definition it explains it's use as an adverb.  So apparently it can be used as an adverb.

 

Oh, how interesting! My dictionaries do not show that usage. I checked three, and none list an adjective entry. The link Wendy gives does list it as non-standard. Perhaps it is used that way regionally?

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Motherly, friendly, lonely, neighborly-there are plenty of -ly adjectives. Not every word that ends in -ly is an adverb. 

 
 

Oh, how interesting! My dictionaries do not show that usage. I checked three, and none list an adjective entry. The link Wendy gives does list it as non-standard. Perhaps it is used that way regionally?

 

 

 

I can't think of a way in which you would use "lovely" as an adverb *and* be speaking correctly. It's useful to remember that the dictionary is *descriptive*. It describes the way in which people speak. That's why the dictionary lists "irregardless" as a word, even though it is nonsense and is widely considered improper. That's why the entry lists the adverb as non-standard. Someone might say "she dances lovely" instead of "she dances in a lovely way." They'd be using it (incorrectly) as an adverb.

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I think it's the double descriptor that throws me off (lovely + dead).

 

It's a lovely coyote. Adjective.

It's a dead coyote. Adjective.

 

I keep having the Shurley diagnostic running through my head:

 

What kind of coyote? A dead coyote.

How was he dead? In a lovely way.

 

Hahaha! Nonsense, but it sounds believable, especially if you find yotes troublesome in your area and haven't used Shurley grammar in a decade!

 

DD8 declared it an adjective. I think she's correct but we're away from our grammar books at the moment. Thanks for the input!

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Not necessarily.

 

What color is it?  It is a lovely red. 

 

red modifies it

 

lovely doesn't describe it, lovely describes the red

 

I agree with genscharm that "red" is a noun. The article "a" must be followed by a noun.

 

It is a lovely turtle.

It is a lovely dance.

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In starting to think that we are trying to apply formal grammar rules to colloquial speech. I'm going to have to think on this more. I'm intrigued about the missing/implied words affecting the classification of other words in my original sentence.

 

Which is why Wendy's link listed it as a "non-standard" usage. Non-standard usually = colloquial. 

 

I don't think lovely is supposed to modify dead in your original sentence. Lovely is modifying the coyote, therefore it is an adjective. Like I said above, there are many adjectives that end with -ly. 

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Oh see I think it could be either one.  Is the shade of red lovely, or is the color lovely? 

 

Tricky.  I think it could be both.

 

This is why I hate grammar and think math is better.  If there is a rule it should make sense damn it.

 

LOL

But, in either case, "lovely" is modifying the noun, right?

 

It is a lovely color.

 

It is a lovely shade of the color.

 

I still see "lovely" as an adjective in either construction.

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