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Real vs. Really

11/12/2011

33 Comments

 
PictureI would buy a permanent marker and fix this error.
Real is an adjective. Really is an adverb.

It is not OK to use these words interchangeably.

A good idea is to take a really quick look at the real difference between adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives: An adjective describes a noun. (people, places, or things) Adjectives give a little different meaning to a noun. Adjectives usually come before the noun they describe.
Example: Alexandre, who is 5 years old, owns a fake car. His father owns a real car.

However, adjectives can also come after a linking verb, which is a non-action verb. Examples of linking verbs are: the verb BE, look, seem, and smell.
Example: Alexandre’s car is fake. His father’s car is real.

We cannot replace real for really in these sentences. The reason is that an adverb cannot describe a noun.

Adverbs: An adverb can modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. It cannot modify a noun. Adverbs are often formed by adding –ly to an adjective. There are different kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of manner
give more information about action verbs. It often answers the question ‘how?”
Example: How did he drive the car? He drove the car quickly.

Adverbs of frequency describe how often something happens. They usually appear before the main verb. However, adverbs appear after the use of the verb BE.
Example: How often does he drive the car? He rarely drives the car.

We also use adverbs when describing or giving more information about adjectives or other adverbs. These adverbs usually appear immediately before the adjective or adverb they describe.
Example: His car is really fast. The word fast in this sentence is an adjective. Really, an adverb, describes HOW fast.

It is not grammatically correct to say “Mexican food tastes real good”. 'Good' is an adjective. As such, the adjective ‘real’ cannot be used to modify it. 'Good' needs an adverb, and in this case, the adverb is ‘really’. The correct way to express yourself would be to say “Mexican food tastes really good”. If you want, add an exclamation point to that!

I know I did not cover everything. To learn more about the differences between adjectives and adverbs, visit Grammar Book.

For more exercises to test your knowledge, check out my post on Real vs. Really - Exercises.


33 Comments
Lubomir link
12/30/2011 10:19:40 pm

THX for info

Reply
Bonnie link
1/3/2012 08:37:11 am

You're welcome. Let me know if there's anything else that might be of interest to you.

Reply
Andrea
3/7/2014 04:17:11 am

I'm having a dispute with a friend. Which is correct:
"Let me explain something really quick."
OR
"Let me explain something really quickly."
Please tell me which is correct and why. Thank you!

Reply
Bonnie
3/25/2014 01:53:17 pm

Hi Andrea,

I apologize for the late reply. I was on vacation for the last 3 weeks.

The correct sentence is:
"Let me explain something really quickly"

Reason:

Forget about the word "really" for a second. How would you write your sentence? The right answer is "Let me explain something to you quickly". Why? Because the adverb "quickly" is modifying the verb "explain".

The trick to solving whether or not to use an adjective or an adverb after seeing "really", is to remove "really". Once you do, then you'll know what kind of word you're modifying. Take the next sentence:
"I think she's really pretty."
Remove "really" and you have "I think she's pretty". You would not write "I think she's prettily", so use the adjective "pretty", not the adverb, "prettily".

Make sense?

To add an interesting twist to this, the word "fast" can act as both an adjective and an adverb. So you could also write this sentence as "Let me explain something to you really fast", and you'd be correct.

Awesome question by the way. Thanks.

Bonnie :)

co je seo link
1/26/2012 02:26:48 am

Fine info dude

Reply
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1/26/2012 10:55:05 am

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3/13/2012 08:33:11 am

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Ledvoušek link
3/22/2012 06:12:00 pm

Nice one info, thx

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3/30/2012 05:43:31 pm

Nice one info, thanks

Reply
GaGy link
5/31/2012 10:57:38 pm

is soon

Reply
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7/18/2012 03:34:00 pm

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Reply
Joseph Aidan link
9/23/2012 06:58:21 pm

kudos! A trustworthy blog, thanks for putting an effort to publish this information. very informative and does exactly what it sets out to do. thumbs up! :)

Joseph Aidan
www.arielmed.com

Reply
Bonnie
9/24/2012 11:53:03 am

Thanks, Joseph. Let me know if there's something you'd like to me address.

Reply
Oriflame CZ link
11/1/2012 07:47:47 am

good post

Reply
Lokesh
11/20/2013 08:08:00 pm

It helped me a lot to understand the difference between the words ending "ly".
Thanks a lot mate

Reply
Lokesh Chakrapani
11/20/2013 08:11:09 pm

It's a real good post....really a good learning...!

Reply
Angelica
8/14/2014 07:46:46 pm

Thank you for info about real vs really.

However, bonnie, could you tell me what is the difference between really and very?

Reply
Bonnie
8/18/2014 12:06:06 pm

Hi Angelica,

I got your question about the difference between really and very. It's such a great question that you inspired me to write a blog post about it. However, until then, here is my answer.

Both Very and Really are used to add emphasis, or intensify what is being said.

Really: An adverb, which means that it's used to describe adjectives, verbs or other adverbs.
Very: An adverb but with one hitch - it cannot modify verbs. It can also be used as an adjective. An adjective only describes nouns.

Sometimes, they can be interchangeable because they are both being used as adverbs:
Example:
She is a really interesting girl.
She is a very interesting girl.

However, there are times they are not interchangeable, meaning that one cannot be replaced by the other. Very, although an adjective, cannot modify verbs.
Example:
I very think she is an interesting girl. (wrong)
I really think she is an interesting girl. (right)

Really can also be used as an interjection, to show surprise or exhasperation.
Example:
Me: I saw the band Twisted Sister last weekend.
You: Wow, really?

I'm not sure if I captured everything. I hope this helps and that I was able to answer your question to your satisfaction.

Take care,

Bonnie

Reply
Sheila Hertel
3/27/2015 03:11:50 am

I've been bothered by the apparent misuse of the words real and really for many years and have been noticing it happening more frequently as of late, even in supposedly professional advertising campaigns, to the point where I was starting to question my own understanding (and I am a bit of a self-proclaimed grammar queen). Just yesterday I was listening to a CBC radio program, As It Happens, that invited listeners to call in and share their grammar woes. Bound and determined to voice my longstanding pet peeve, I decided to do some research to avoid potential embarrassment on national radio and came upon your website which, I was thrilled to see, and am very thankful for, proved me correct. Thank you!!

Reply
Bonnie Whelan
4/21/2015 02:02:31 pm

Hi Sheila,
It makes me happy to know that my blog post was able to clarify things for you, and that you took the time to let me know. I'm glad to hear that you called in and shared the truth about 'real' and 'really'.
If you have any ideas for a future post, or if you have any questions, please let me know and I'll address them.
Thanks again,
Bonnie

Reply
Jorge Calderon
7/11/2015 05:23:54 pm

Bonnie,

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to clarify "real" versus "really". English is my second language and it is important that I speak it properly. Your blog is very informative and the time of finding it could not have been more propitious. Thank you, again.

Sincerely,

Jorge Calderon

Reply
Bonnie
7/13/2015 12:17:45 am

Hi Jorge,
Thank you for taking the time to write a little note to let me know you like my blog. It's very kind of you.
Feel free to write and ask a question any time. If you have any suggestions for blog post, let me know. I'm still trying to decide what to write for July.
All the best,
Bonnie :)

Reply
Maci Logan
1/11/2017 10:53:08 pm

Grammar stammer,

Could you add an additional section of exercises for readers to practice the differences between the adverbs and adjectives.
The extra practice will give a clearer understanding of the grammar and more mental and physical thought to it.


Sincerely,
Maci Logan

Reply
Bonnie Whelan
1/12/2017 07:31:05 am

Hi Maci,

Thank you for your question. I will write a new blog post this month titled "Real vs. Really - Exercises". I agree that with extra practice, the difference will become more clear. I'll include the answers as a footnote.

Stay tuned.

Bonnie

Reply
Bonnie
1/24/2017 05:02:45 pm

I added a new blog post, "Real vs. Really - Exercises".http://grammarstammer.weebly.com/words-to-the-wise/archives/01-2017

Reply
Sophia
6/19/2017 10:32:17 am

1. "Do you know real important people?"
2. "Do you know really important people?"

Are both sentences correct and do they have the same meaning?

Reply
Bonnie
6/20/2017 07:37:44 am

Hi Sophia,

Both sentences are correct, with minor modifications to the first example, but they have different meanings.

"Real" is the opposite of "fake". So in your first example, if you wanted it to read correctly, you would write "Do you know real AND important people?" We have to use the coordinating conjunction "AND" because we are using two adjectives. Alternatively, you could have put a comma between "real" and "Important". But I would say that no one would ever say this because of the likelihood that all people are real.

When describing an adjective, you have to use an adverb. Your second sentence is 100% correct. In your second sentence, "Really" could be replaced by "very", and the meaning would be unchanged.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions any time.

Bonnie :)

Reply
Charles
4/9/2019 07:04:36 am

Real and really can also be used this way depending on your intended meaning. Am I correct? In the second example below, actually is an adjective describing the noun, chocolate.

Is that real chocolate? (genuine chocolate) (Real is an adjective.)
Is that really chocolate? (actually chocolate) (Really is an adjective.)

Reply
Bonnie
4/9/2019 05:18:16 pm

You are 100% right! I should have used this example in my post. Thanks for sharing. :)

Reply
Razzy
2/24/2020 02:12:36 pm

Charles’s post just confused me. Why write “really chocolate”? I would think his first example would be the correct one.

Reply
Bonnie
2/24/2020 02:20:37 pm

Razzy - both are correct, but have different meanings.
The first is questioning whether the chocolate is real. Perhaps it's vegan, who knows?
The second one is questioning something the person finds unbelievable. He can't believe there's chocolate, so he exclaims "Is that really chocolate?". Kind of like an OMG statement.

Reply
Hemanth link
4/10/2020 02:27:36 am

I'm not sure if I captured everything. I hope this helps and that I was able to answer your question to your satisfaction.

Reply
tr link
12/11/2020 01:02:06 pm

2qwedrftgyhujimk,l;./'wasedrcfvtgbhnjmk,erdftgyhujmk,l.frtgyhujiklt6yhujiklt6yhujk,lyhujikltgyhujklgtyhjnyhujmk,lyhujiklt6gyhujkly7hujk,yhujk,.uji

Reply



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