Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
I like all Russian novelists, _ _ _ _ _ _ Tolstoy.
A. usually
B. especially
C. together
D. only

Answer 1

Hint: Adverb is an expression that describes a verb (she speaks loudly), an adjective (she is very fat), another adverb (the show ended too quickly), or even a whole sentence (Fortunately, I had brought my lunch). They help to express the manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc. They are regarded as one of the parts of speech. They are characterized by their ‘-ly’ endings but some adverbs such as fast look the same as their adjective counterparts.

Complete answer:
1. Leo Tolstoy was a Russian writer (novelists). If we look at the sentence, we can see that the speaker expresses his fondness over all Russian novelists. But amongst all them, he specifically refers to Tolstoy. This means that he particularly admires Tolstoy’s work. Hence, we have to find the word that expresses the said scenario.
2. Option B, ‘especially’ is the correct answer to this question as it expresses the fact that the speaker specifically prefers Tolstoy.
3. Option A, ‘usually’, option C ‘together’ and option D ‘only’ are incorrect as they don’t complete the meaning of the sentence accurately.
4. Therefore, the correct answer to this question is option B. Not worthy to mention that the adverb ‘especially’ modifies the verb here in the sentence, which is ‘like’.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘B’

Note:An adverb is one of the parts of speech. It modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb and/or perhaps the whole sentence. It is characterized by its ‘-ly’ ending. Some adverbs are ‘beautifully’, ‘excellently’, ‘usually’, ‘especially’, etc.