almost
Like “only,” “almost” must come immediately before the word or phrase it modifies: “She almost gave a million dollars to the museum” means something quite different from, “She gave almost a million dollars to the museum.” Right? So you shouldn’t write, “There was almost a riotous reaction when the will was read” when what you mean is, “There was an almost riotous reaction.”
I love your posts. I read them regularly.
ReplyDeleteOn this one however, I have a question.
“There was almost a riotous reaction when the will was read” seems to indicate that a riotous reaction nearly broke out.
While “There was an almost riotous reaction.” deals with the intensity of the reaction.
Is the first use grammatically incorrect?