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 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.