An adverb + adjective collocation is an established combination in which an adverb modifies an adjective. Common examples include deeply concerned, highly unlikely, and perfectly clear.
The adverb can change more than the strength of a description. It may express certainty, sincerity, or another aspect of the adjective’s meaning. Some combinations are particularly familiar in English, while others are formed more freely.
Common Adverb + Adjective Collocations with Examples
Adverb + adjective combinations appear in everyday conversation, personal descriptions, news reports, and professional communication.
Feelings and Personal Reactions
| Collocation | Example sentence |
|---|---|
| Deeply grateful | After the neighbours helped rebuild her damaged garden wall, Olivia was deeply grateful for their support. |
| Bitterly disappointed | Marcus was bitterly disappointed when the theatre cancelled his final performance. |
| Pleasantly surprised | The organisers were pleasantly surprised by the number of volunteers who arrived. |
| Painfully shy | As a teenager, Daniel was painfully shy and rarely spoke in large groups. |
| Genuinely concerned | Despite their earlier disagreement, Hannah was genuinely concerned about her colleague’s recovery. |
| Blissfully unaware | While the family searched for the missing wedding rings, Leo remained blissfully unaware of the panic downstairs. |
Blissfully unaware often suggests that someone remains free from worry because they do not know about a troubling situation. The expression can carry a gently ironic tone, particularly when others are dealing with the consequences.
Judgments, Possibility, and Evaluation
| Collocation | Example sentence |
|---|---|
| Highly unlikely | With the mountain road closed by snow, an evening delivery was highly unlikely. |
| Highly effective | The revised appointment system proved highly effective at reducing waiting times. |
| Perfectly acceptable | The editor explained that a shorter introduction would be perfectly acceptable. |
| Entirely different | The replacement material had an entirely different texture from the original fabric. |
| Remarkably successful | The community’s first book exchange was remarkably successful, attracting hundreds of visitors. |
| Seriously flawed | The review found that the original cost estimate was seriously flawed. |
| Particularly vulnerable | The older trees were particularly vulnerable to damage during the prolonged drought. |
Remarkably successful suggests that the success is noteworthy or surprising, rather than simply great in degree.
Conditions, Extent, and Availability
| Collocation | Example sentence |
|---|---|
| Barely visible | The faded inscription was barely visible beneath several layers of paint. |
| Fully booked | Every guest room was fully booked for the festival weekend. |
| Bitterly cold | It was bitterly cold on the harbour wall before sunrise. |
| Strictly confidential | The employee records remained strictly confidential throughout the investigation. |
| Virtually impossible | Without the original receipt number, identifying the transaction was virtually impossible. |
| Highly contagious | The clinic introduced additional precautions because the infection was highly contagious. |
| Widely available | The replacement parts were widely available, so the repair shop had several suppliers to choose from. |
Strictly confidential suggests firm restrictions on sharing information, rather than merely describing a high degree of confidentiality.
How Adverbs Change What an Adjective Communicates
Changing an adverb can affect how strongly a quality is expressed or what particular aspect of a situation the speaker wants to emphasise.
Different Degrees of Certainty
Imagine three employees are asked whether replacement equipment will arrive before Friday.
Their answers might be:
I’m fairly certain it will arrive before Friday.
I’m almost certain it will arrive before Friday.
I’m absolutely certain it will arrive before Friday.
The prediction stays the same, but the degree of confidence changes.
| Combination | What the speaker communicates |
|---|---|
| Fairly certain | Reasonable confidence, with some uncertainty |
| Almost certain | Very high confidence, short of complete certainty |
| Absolutely certain | Complete confidence |
These expressions tell us how confident the speaker is, not whether the prediction will turn out to be correct.
Intensity and Sincerity Are Different
Consider the adjective concerned.
The doctor was slightly concerned about the patient’s persistent cough.
The doctor was deeply concerned about the patient’s worsening symptoms.
The doctor was genuinely concerned about the patient’s wellbeing.
Slightly concerned and deeply concerned describe different degrees of concern.
Genuinely concerned tells us that the concern is sincere.
A person can be genuinely concerned without being deeply concerned. The two adverbs do not measure the same thing.
Readily Available, Widely Available, and Currently Available
The adjective available can express different kinds of information depending on the adverb.
| Combination | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Readily available | Easy to obtain or access |
| Widely available | Obtainable from many places or sources |
| Currently available | Available at the present time |
Suppose a replacement battery is sold by many suppliers across the country. It is widely available.
If nearby shops do not stock it and delivery takes several weeks, however, it may not be readily available to a particular customer.
A specialist battery might be currently available from one supplier without being widely available.
Why Some Adverbs Combine More Naturally with Certain Adjectives
English favours some adverb + adjective combinations over others.
For example, highly effective and deeply concerned are familiar expressions.
Deeply effective would sound unusual in most ordinary contexts, although deeply works naturally with adjectives such as grateful and troubled.
Similarly, highly concerned is possible, but deeply concerned is a particularly familiar way to express serious worry.
A less familiar pairing isn’t automatically incorrect. The intended meaning and the way English speakers normally use the words both matter.
Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives
Some adjectives describe qualities that can vary in degree.
A room might be slightly cold, very cold, or extremely cold.
Cold is a gradable adjective because the quality can be described at different levels.
Other adjectives describe an absolute state or already express an extreme quality.
Compare:
The changing room was very cold after the heating failed.
By midnight, the changing room was absolutely freezing.
In its common emphatic use, freezing already expresses extreme cold, so absolutely freezing is a familiar combination.
Similarly, absolutely perfect and completely impossible are established expressions.
This helps explain why completely full is natural, while completely tall would be unusual in ordinary English.
These patterns are useful guides rather than absolute rules. Adjectives can also be used figuratively or with different modifiers depending on context.
Can Very Replace a More Specific Adverb?
Sometimes it can, although the emphasis may change.
Compare:
The journalist was deeply concerned about the missing documents.
The journalist was very concerned about the missing documents.
Both sentences are natural.
Deeply concerned may suggest more profound or serious concern, but the meanings overlap.
Similarly, highly controversial and very controversial are both natural expressions.
There is no reason to replace very merely to make a sentence sound more advanced. A more specific adverb is useful when it better conveys the intended meaning.
Why Quite Needs Careful Interpretation
The adverb quite can mean fairly or completely, depending on the adjective and context.
Consider:
The room was quite cold when we arrived.
Here, quite cold can mean fairly or moderately cold.
Now compare:
I’m quite certain that I left the documents at reception.
With certain, quite can convey strong or complete certainty, particularly in British English.
Context, intonation, and regional usage can affect the interpretation. Quite does not always indicate a degree below very.
Using Adverb + Adjective Collocations in Sentences
Adverb + adjective combinations can appear before nouns or after linking verbs. Their spelling and accompanying grammatical patterns also matter.
Before a Noun and After a Linking Verb
Compare:
The inspectors identified a highly unusual pattern in the maintenance records.
The pattern in the maintenance records was highly unusual.
In both sentences, highly modifies the adjective unusual.
In the first, the adjective phrase appears before the noun pattern. In the second, it follows the linking verb was.
When an Adjective Is Followed by a Preposition
Consider:
The residents were deeply concerned about the proposed demolition.
Deeply modifies concerned, while about introduces the subject of the concern.
Another example:
The research team was fully aware of the limitations of its earlier study.
Here, fully aware is an adverb + adjective combination, while aware of illustrates an adjective + preposition pattern.
Both patterns can appear in the same phrase. Their distinction is covered more broadly in types of collocations in English.
Should Adverb + Adjective Combinations Be Hyphenated?
Adverbs ending in -ly are normally written without a hyphen before an adjective or participle.
Preferred: The company introduced a highly effective system.
Usually unnecessary: The company introduced a highly-effective system.
This is especially standard in US English, although editorial conventions may vary.
The same general pattern applies to expressions such as deeply concerned residents and widely available products.
Other compound modifiers may follow different hyphenation conventions.
Participial Adjectives and Verb Forms
Some words derived from verbs can function as adjectives.
Compare:
The residents were strongly opposed to the closure of the public library.
The residents strongly opposed the closure of the public library.
In the first sentence, strongly modifies the adjectival expression opposed to. In the second, it modifies the verb opposed.
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