Page 175 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

■ You often use very, especially when you use very more than once in a
row.

Bad: very small Good: tiny Bad: very, very small Good:
■ minuscule, minute Your adverbs are redundant.

Bad: She sang musically.
Good: She sang.

Bad: He wept tearfully.
Good: He wept.

■ You use them when attributing sentences, especially with said.
Bad: “Those are mine,” he said forcefully.

Good: “Those are mine!” he shouted.

Bad: “I am your governess,” she said chirpily.
Good: “I am your governess,” she chirped.

When you find a misused adverb, try finding a better verb. Redraft the

sentence with a simile or metaphor. Try using a different noun.

See section 12.0 for more on adverbs.

17.2 Bored Of versus Bored By versus Bored With

Bored of, bored by, bored with—all three of these mean something is boring
someone. However, bored of is newer in English and still sounds wrong to some

native speakers’ ears. It’s better to use bored by or bored with for now in most
formal writing.

17.3 Can versus May

Many a parent or teacher has corrected a child who asks, “Can I go play?” with,
“You mean, may I go play?”

Traditionally, can has referred to what one was physically or mentally

capable of doing. May was more about permission. (This is different from the
may that is related to whether or not something is possible, as in, “It may snow