Question

Fill in the blank with the correct option:
Those flowers smell ____________.
(a) Sweet
(b) Sweetly
(c) More sweetly
(d) Most sweetly

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and decipher what it wants to convey. Now go through the given options and recall what they signify. Choose the one which best fits the context of the given sentence.

Complete answer: An adjective is the part of speech that puts emphasis on the noun and modifies it. An adverb is a word that modifies a verb before it. Adverbs are of five kinds: adverb of degree, adverb of manner, adverb of place, adverb of frequency and adverb of time. In the above sentence, the speaker is talking about the smell of the flowers. Adverbs generally answer the questions like how, when, where, how much, how long etc. It is an example of an adverb of manner.
Now, let us analyze the options:
Option(a) “sweet”, it can play both; an adjective as well as an adverb too. But here in the question, since the word before the blank is a verb “smell”, so we will consider “sweet” as an adverb. Hence, this option is correct.
Option(b) “sweetly”, it is an adverb which means gently or pleasantly, it is an example of an adverb of manner. Adverbs ending with -ly implies an action is performed. There is no action being performed by the flowers. Hence, this option is invalid.
Option(c) “more sweetly”, it is the comparative degree of the adverb sweetly. Comparison is made between two things, but in the question, there is no comparison made. Hence, this option is incorrect.
Option(d) “most sweetly”, it is the superlative degree of comparison, hence it is also used when a comparison is made. In the above question, no comparison is made. Therefore, this option is also incorrect.
therefore, option a is the correct answer.
Note: An Adverb is a word that elucidates the modification of a verb, an adjective or even the whole part of a sentence. There are three degrees of comparison in adverbs namely: the Positive, the Comparative and the Superlative.