Adverbs

“The DVD is due on next Sunday.”

Adverbs, Nouns, Prepositions

I heard this at Blockbuster Video over the weekend.

Problem:
The phrase “on next Sunday” did not sound right.

Explanation:
My wife and I were renting a DVD at a local Blockbuster Video store last Saturday evening.

Blockbuster has a seven-day return policy.

I was expecting the Blockbuster sales clerk to say one of the following:

  • “The DVD is due on Sunday, June 29.”
  • “The DVD is due next Sunday.”

So when I heard her say, “The DVD is due on next Sunday,” I was taken aback and began to wonder why “on next Sunday” was incorrect.

Here is what I realized:

  • The clerk wanted to say when the DVD was due.
  • Saying when is equivalent to modifying the verb “due” with an adverb or adverbial phrase.
  • “Sunday” is a noun.
  • One can combine the preposition “on” with the noun “Sunday” to get an adverbial phrase that says when.
  • The phrase “next Sunday” is already an adverbial phrase because it says when.
  • Therefore, it is a mistake to combine the preposition “on” with the adverbial phrase “next Sunday” in an attempt to get an adverbial phrase.

Solution:
“The DVD is due next Sunday.”

“He wanted to play so bad …”

Adjectives, Adverbs, Common English Blunders

I heard this the other day when a woman was talking about her son having a strong desire to play baseball.

Problems:
1. The adjective should be an adverb.
2. What would be the adverbial phrase is adjacent to the wrong verb.

Explanation:
This sentence illustrates two common English blunders:

  1. The speaker used an adjective as an adverb.
  2. The speaker put the (defective) adverbial phrase next to the wrong verb.

The word “bad” is an adjective; one must add “ly” to make it an adverb (“badly”), which is required to modify a verb.

The meaning of “badly” when modifying “play” could easily be the first definition of the adverb: in an undesirable way.

In contrast, another meaning of the adverb “badly” is very much, and this definition would make sense when “badly” modifies “wanted” in the sentence.

The word “so” is used informally as an adverb to mean extremely or very.

So the meaning of “so badly” is very, very much when this adverbial phrase follows the verb “wanted”.

“He wanted very, very much to play …” makes more sense than “He wanted to play in an undesirable way …” when someone is talking about a strong desire instead of a poor performance.

Solution:
“He wanted so badly to play …”