General English C1 · Lesson 3B

Grammar Bank

The rules behind this lesson — form, use, model sentences and the mistakes to avoid.

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Grammar focus of this lesson

discourse markers (2): adverbs and adverbial expressions

1 structure

Discourse markers (2): adverbs and adverbial expressions
Adverbials that manage attitude, focus and conversational flow.
I've got this
Rules & form
- ›Attitude: frankly, admittedly, understandably, ironically.
- ›Focus: in particular, above all, notably, specifically.
- ›Softening / correcting: actually, to be fair, then again, as it happens.
- ›Usually front position and comma-marked, occasionally mid or end.
Examples
- “Admittedly, the timeline was always optimistic.”
- “Above all, the client wants predictability.”
- “To be fair, they warned us twice.”
Watch out · actually ≠ currently — for 'now' use currently or at present.
Your own example