Month: April 2009

“She was found safely.”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Hypercorrection, Verbs

I heard this four days ago on a CNN evening-news broadcast.

Problem:
There is no problem with this statement in and of itself. But the reporter was referring to the state of the person found, so there is a problem.

Explanation:
The CNN reporter said “She was found safely.” as part of a longer report about a robber and father who took his daughter to his robbery of a convenience store.

Security-camera videos implied that the daughter apparently was unaware that her father was robbing the store, but police were very concerned for her safety, the reporter said.

So the police searched for the girl and eventually found her in a safe condition.

But the reporter said “She was found safely.”, even though the search for the girl had no hint of danger.

This is an example of hypercorrection.

To say “She was found safely.” is to say that the finding of the girl was done in a safe manner — because “safely” is an adverb that modifies the verb “found”.

The solution comes from understanding the role of a predicate adjective.

Solution:
“She was found safe.”

“That does not constitute running a red light.”

Verbs

I heard this in a police-car windshield-camera video.

Problem:
The word “constitute” is inappropriate in this statement.

Explanation:
The video has been played on several Houston television news broadcasts.

The video, captured by the windshield camera in the police car of Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell, shows some of what happened when Officer Powell stopped NFL football player Ryan Moats for running a red light.

Mr. Moats explained to Officer Powell that he and his family were rushing to the hospital where his mother-in-law lay dying — and eventually died before Moats was released by Powell.

Powell responded, “That does not constitute running a red light.”

It seems that Officer Powell was over his head not only with exercising common sense but also with the definitions of basic verbs.

Solution:
“That does not justify running a red light.”

“You have done great.”

Adjectives, Adverbs

I read this in a company’s employee-education course about a week ago.

Problem:
The word “great” is not an adverb.

Explanation:
The word “great” in “You have done great.” acts as an adverb because it modifies the verb “done”.

Writing “You have done great.” is just as wrong as writing “You have done good.” because neither the adjective “good” nor the adjective “great” should be used to modify a verb.

The solution comes from replacing the adjective “great” with an adverb that carries a similar sentiment.

Solution:
“You have done well.”