Learn to speak better English!
Hey! I’m doing a special series called “ask the teacher” in August, featuring questions from real students like you! Our first one is this – what does the phrase “awfully good” mean?!
Well – the adjective “awful” always means “very bad”:
- That was an awful restaurant = a very bad restaurant
And the adverb “awfully” means “very badly” when it comes after a verb:
- She performed awfully on the test.
But the adverb “awfully” just means “very” when it comes before an adjective:
- It’s awfully good to see you = It’s very good to see you.
- They’re awfully excited to travel. = They’re very excited to travel.
Got it? Awful = very bad, awfully = very badly when it comes after a verb, but awfully = very when it comes before an adjective – so awfully good means very good.
If you have an English question, let me know so I can answer it in a future video!
