In which cases do we use sure/surely?
- Sure or Surely?
Sure is an adjective, and surely is an adverb. For example:
Sure (certain) is an adjective, and surely (certainly, surely, reliably) is an adverb.
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- 'He is sure about his answer.' Sure describes he.
- 'The Senator spoke out surely.' Here, surely describes how the senator spoke.
N.B. Surely can also be used as a sentence-adverb. For example, 'Surely, you're joking.' Here, surely describes the entire sentence 'you're joking.' The sentence more or less means, 'You must be joking.'
- Near or Nearly?
Near can function as a verb, adverb, adjective, or preposition.
Near(close) functions as a verb, adverb, adjective, or preposition.
Nearly(almost, approximately) is used as an adverb to mean 'in a close manner' or 'almost but not quite.' Here are some examples that demonstrate the differences between various uses of near and nearly.
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- 'I'll be seeing you in the near future.' Here, near describes the noun 'future.'
- 'The cat crept near.' Near is an adverb that describes where the cat crept.
- 'Don't worry; we're nearly there.' Here, nearly describes how close we are.
Near can also be used as a verb and a preposition.
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- 'My graduation neared.' Here, neared is the verb of the sentence.
- 'I want the couch near the window.' Near is a preposition at the head of the phrase 'near the window.'