softly

«softly» in Mova's school dictionary: quietly, not loudly — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb

meaning for a pupil

1) Softly means quietly, not loudly. tree →

2) Softly means gently, with little force. tree →

3) Softly can mean in a kind, tender way. tree →

sense in the lessons

In stories it tells the reader that a sound is quiet or an action is gentle, often to show care, calm, secrecy or a sleeping person: «she spoke softly», «snow fell softly». In music and drama it tells you how to perform. Phrases: «speak softly», «softly, softly», «tread softly», «close the door softly».

examples

• Please speak softly; the baby is asleep. tree →
• Snow fell softly on the roofs. tree →
• She closed the door softly behind her. tree →
• The music played softly in the background. tree →
• He softly stroked the kitten. tree →
• The wind blew softly through the trees. tree →
• "It's all right," Grandma said softly. tree →
• Tiptoe softly so you don't wake anyone. tree →
• She answered softly, “Yes, dear Beast.” tree →

note

Adverb from «soft» + -ly. The opposite is «loudly» (for sound) or «roughly/hard» (for touch). Note the «t» is often silent: «sof-ly».

In the corpora

• Approach a horse from the side, near its shoulder, and talk softly as you come.
• Animals feel safe with calm people who move slowly and speak softly.
• Small animals are easily frightened, because to them we are huge; they feel safe with people who move slowly and speak softly.
• With small animals you always move slowly and speak softly.
• Moving slowly and speaking softly tells an animal that you are not a threat.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «softly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.