Replacing the word really

Welcome back English learners! This blog is going to discuss the difference between real and really. The word real refers to something that is considered true.

Most of the time, this word is an adjective. Meaning, it describes a noun.

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Here are some helpful examples:

• The YouTube video was not fake, it was real. (It was a truthful, non-edited video.)
• The following story was based on real life events. (These events happened in someone’s life.)
• There is a real gorilla outside right now. (This is NOT someone in a gorilla suit.)

The word real could also be used as an adverb. An adverb describes a verb or an adjective. When real is used as an adverb, the definition means extremely.

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For example:

• She did a real nice job fixing the car. (I am extremely pleased with the work on the car).
• The word really is an adverb and an interjection.

When you use the word really as an adverb (describing the verb or adjective) then it doesn’t matter if you use real or really. It comes down to personal choice.

Really has the definition of meaning actually, truly, without a doubt or even in reality.

It might be easier to know some synonyms of the word really to help remember when to use it. (Synonym are words that have the same definition.)

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The following are synonyms of really

Absolutely, actually, certainly, easily, genuinely, honestly, indeed, legitimately, literally, surely, truly, undoubtedly, unquestionably and well.

Here are some examples of the word really used in sentences:

• Bob is so much in love that he can’t see that she really doesn’t like him. (I used an adverb that means truly.)
• I really can’t tell the difference between Mom’s cake and my sister’s cake. They taste identical.

If you are able to replace the word really with most of the synonyms; then you are using the word correctly.

There are some sentences where both real and really can be used.

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For example:

• The ice cream in Italy is really good.
• The word good is an adjective and I need a word that describes this adjective. I can only use an adverb. Really works here.

BUT, I could also say:

• The ice cream in Italy is real good. The word good is a friend of everyone and allows both real and really to describe it.

The word really can also be used as in interjection. An interjection is a part of speech that expresses emotion.

Really expresses surprise or doubt.

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For example:

You won’t believe this, but Mary just had her baby!

Really?

You must be careful with how you say really when using it as an interjection.

If you say really and you use an intonation that goes from low to high, native English speakers will understand that you believe them.

Intonation is the way you sing and change the pitch in your voice. Like when you sing words, the notes change.

When you start with lower notes (or a lower pitch) and end with a higher note (higher pitch) when saying the word “really” it means you believe the person or the thing that was said.

On the other hand, if you end with a lower pitch when saying really it means that you do NOT believe the person or what was said.

An easier way to remember this is the following:

Really = high notes = I believe you

Really = low notes = I do NOT believe you (you need to convince me!)

Great job! Keep practicing to master the difference between real and really.

It will take some time before you can remember these rules. So come back to this post to help refresh your memory!

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While working on developing the lexicon in one of my constructed languages, I encountered a slight difficulty in using standard classifications for words like very, extremely, really, and quite.

To demonstrate this, here is an example sentence with a noun, an adjective, a verb, and an adverb:

The bad dog howled angrily.

If any of those parts of speech is replaced by a word like very, extremely, etc., the sentence does not seem to be grammatical. For example,

The extremely dog howled angrily. —(Extremely does not work as an adjective)

The bad very howled angrily. —(Very does not work as a noun)

The bad dog really angrily. —(Really does not work as a verb)

The bad dog howled quite. —(Quite does not work as an adverb)

Thus, this set of words does not seem to fit any of the main part of speech roles. (A similar experiment could be used to eliminate parts of speech which more obviously do not fit, such as prepositions, demonstratives, articles, conjunctions, and so on.)

(Some of the words do have several meanings where they can be other parts of speech,

The very day you eat of it you will die.

Are you really going to lick that ice cream off of the floor?

Do you like Mozart? Oh yes, quite.

but I am disregarding those other meanings.)

However, I noticed that these words do work when they modify modifiers, i.e. adjectives and adverbs, as can be seen in the following example sentences.

The very bad dog howled quite angrily.

All of the extremely smart girls will very quietly figure out a quite clever solution.

Is he really that stupid?

Just for my purposes of labelling the words in my language, I just invented a term that I think fits their role in the sentence: meta-modifier. I did notice that dictionaries list these words as adverbs.

Since adverbs can modify participles, which can be classified as adjectives,

The filthily clothed man tried to hug me.

it makes a little bit of sense. But, AFAICT, adverbs cannot modify other adverbs or non-participle adjectives, but very, extremely, really, and quite can.

So my question (finally) is, are these words really adverbs, and if not, how can these words be classified?

Is «really» an informal word?
Is «really» popular in the the US

We can’t say: «I very love him» but can say: «I really love him», right?

We say: «I don’t really like coffee» or «I really don’t like coffee»? If both of them are correct, are thier meanings difference?

NOT A TEACHER

(1) That word is my favorite word, really! (= I am telling you the truth)

(2) May I add a few words to the excellent answers from the two moderators?

(3) Yes, «really» is a very popular word in the United States. In fact, some

writing teachers tell us NOT to use it so much.

(4) One moderator has already explained your «coffee» sentence. Let me give

you another one. Let’s say a man visits your country. Let’s say that he learned

a few words and sentences of your native language. So when the man arrives in

your country, he says «How are you?» in your language:

You: I see that you speak Vietnamese.

The man: Oh, I do not really speak Vietnamese. ( = Yes, I know a few words and

sentences, but that is all. Nothing more.)

You: I do not believe you. I think that you really (actually/in fact) speak Vietnamese.

The man: I really do not speak it. ( = Believe me!) (You could also say: Really,

I do not speak it.)

(5) I am really (= very) happy that you want to understand this word. Check all the dictionaries

on the Web and you will get lots of good examples.

(6) One last point: Sometimes you will hear native speakers say something like:

Usingenglish.com is a real good place to learn English.

Please remember the correct English is: really good. (= very good)

P.S. If you have more questions about «really,» please post them here.

Many people will be really happy to answer you. Really!