actually
part of speech
adverb (actually)
meaning for a pupil
1) Actually means «in fact» or «really», what is true. tree →
2) Actually is used when you correct someone or say something surprising. tree →
3) Actually is used to sound polite or soft when you disagree or change your mind. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday talk «actually» shows that something is true even if people expect something else: «It's actually quite easy.» In science it separates what we think from what is really so: the Sun looks small but is actually huge. In stories it marks a twist. Phrases: what actually happened, actually, I think…, did you actually…?
examples
- * The Chinese Philosophers even actually said that the circle 0 and the (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- This ]ieeuliarity harmonizes best with tjie Libjan- Uerberic alphabet, in which we actually find each of the first (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- A work like the Sefer Yetzirah could not have been the product of the person, who actually put it into writing. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- The Sun looks small, but actually it is enormous. tree →
- Actually, my name is Sam, not Tom. tree →
- Did you actually see the fox? tree →
- I thought it would be hard, but it was actually easy. tree →
- Actually, I'd rather have juice. tree →
- What actually happened at the party? tree →
- Whales are actually mammals. tree →
- He actually finished the whole book in one day. tree →
- And he found that he actually had hind legs! tree →
note
Spelling: actu-ALLY with double «l». Trap: in many languages a similar word means «now» or «current», but in English «actually» means «really, in fact», not «at present». Use it a little — saying it in every sentence sounds odd.
In the corpora
- What was actually seen?
- The confirmed part of a street story is what someone actually saw, like a car parked in a space on Tuesday.
- Tenrecs look like hedgehogs or shrews but are actually related to elephants and aardvarks, African animals that dig for ants.
- Good listening means looking at the person, letting them finish, and then answering about what they actually said.
- Jake is so surprised he actually gives the ball back.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «actually» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.