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Ask for help > Which is correct?
Which is correct?
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aniapen
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Which is correct?
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Hello, could you please help me with a sentece, because I got quite confused. Which is correct?
1) Can you speak slower, please?
2) Can you speak more slowly, please?
Thank you in advance.
Have a nice Sunday!
Anna
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29 Apr 2012
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mima85
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The second one is correct, because an adverb should be used in the sentence.
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29 Apr 2012
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pianogirl
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As a matter of fact both of them are correct only number one is informal.this is Longman dictionary example:
If you go slower, you �ll see much more.
more slowly and slower both of them are adverbs and in your sentences they are used correctly. anyway, that is what I think.
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29 Apr 2012
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europe
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Technically speaking, slower is an adjective: slow, slower, slowest.
There were two trains. I could get a ticket only on the slower one.
Technically speaking, slowly is an adverb.
I speak slowly; Tom speaks more slowly than I; Martha speaks
the most slowly of us three.
In everyday conversation, people do not want to take the time that
is necessary to say: Would you speak more slowly, please?
So they just say: Would you speak slower, please?
When you write, you may wish to use the "correct" form, but
in speech, I would guess that most people use the "popular"
form -- except in formal speeches.
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29 Apr 2012
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aniapen
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Thank you for your replies. I �m correcting a test according to a key and I should send the corrected test back to the person who prepared the test and the key.
They key says that only sentence 2 is correct but I �ve heard some people using �speak slower � too, so I wasn �t sure. But as it �s used in informal language only, I think I can �t consider option 1 as a correct answer. This was a tricky question for my primary student...
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29 Apr 2012
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ueslteacher
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I think tricky questions are best avoided in tests (especially if there are two possible correct choices) especially with primary ss, i.e. you shouldn �t confuse them. Unless this very sentence was drilled in class. Sophia
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29 Apr 2012
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aliciapc
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slow - adjective slowly - adverb I agree with Sophia |
29 Apr 2012
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htunde
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Comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs are in many cases the same
(well-better, good-better) but unfortunately not in this case. According
to http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/adverbcomp.htm When an adverb ends in -ly, more is put
in front of the adverb. Probably it
happens because the English tries to avoid multiple suffixes. Hope it was of some help. |
29 Apr 2012
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sulekra
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I �m pretty sure both are ok. I am much more likely to use the first one though, in this case. I �ve read in a couple textbooks that the comparative form of one-syllable adjectives can be used in place of comparative adverbs. I �m not sure whether this works for all one-syllable adjectives, or some are simply exceptions, but here �s a couple examples.~Please stop texting on your phone and drive safer/more safely! ~The sun is shining brighter/more brightly than yesterday. |
29 Apr 2012
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foose1
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Personally, I really do not understand why anyone would ask someone to speak slowly as I always say, "could you say that again please." They normally get the point. I watch karaoke here in Thailand and try to say the words that I am reading in English/Thai before they are song. I found out that if I need to understand Thai, I need to recognize the word in a split second (site words). I find that I do not have the time to ask a Thai person to speak slowly. So why would anyone ask the same question to a person who is speaking English? Maybe in a classroom environment, perhaps? In America, when the Vietnamese came over from Vietnam because of America leaving, if I spoke slowly to a South Vietnamese person, I would always hear, "you are speaking down to me, please speak normally." I expect the same thing from a Thai person speaking Thai to me. It is not their problem I do not know the sounds of the words as I should know them. I listened to a Chinese man going to an International school and one of my Thai English teachers. They spoke so fast I had a hard time understanding them. At the same time, I remember my professors at college speaking the same rate. I believe (if my memory serves me correctly) that the rate of speaking by a University Proffessor is around 350 words per minute (it makes students pay attention). My belief, teach at a fast rate and don �t talk down to people. If they do not understand the word at the normal rate, they are not learning and if I cannot catch Thai words at the normal rate, then I am not learning Thai. John |
29 Apr 2012
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