EnglishClub TEFL Forums (archived)

Hello there,

I'd appreciate it very much if someone could please let me know which of the following options are not grammatically correct:

1. She is sitting alone sadly.
2. She is sitting alone and sad.
3. She is sitting alone, sad.
4. She is sitting alone sad.

More particularly, I would like to know whether or not Sentence 4 sounds natural to a native speaker (with no comma between alone and sad.

Thank you in advance!

Just my opinion:
1. She is sitting alone sadly.
2. She is sitting alone and sad. grammatically correct
3. She is sitting alone, sad. grammatically correct
4. She is sitting alone sad. acceptable, idiomatic

Thank you very much Joe! Much appreciated!

Hi Hurdman,

You pose an interesting question, but I think you missed a potential answer that might solve your problem. The sentence, "She is sadly sitting alone" could also be grammatically correct. This correctly utilizes "sad" as an adverb, because it describes how she is sitting; so if she were to be sitting with a sullen expression, perhaps with some tears, she would be sadly sitting.

I hope this helps!
- Atlanta English Institute
www.atlantaenglishinstitute.com