SEMANTICS: MODE ADVERBS AND LINKERS

1. Interrogator

>    com (=how)

>    de quina manera (=in which way)

com es fabriquen aquestes galetes?	how are these biscuits manufactured?
com has après japonès tan ràpidament?	how could you learn Japanese so quickly?

2. Adverbs

>    així (=so, like this)

no ho facis d’aquesta manera	don’t do it in this way
sempre em parla així	(s)he always talks to me like that

>    bé >< mal(ament) (=well >< bad(ly))

t’entenc molt bé	I understand you very well
s’ha comportat molt malament	(s)he’s behaved very badly

>    Most adverbs ending with –ment (= –ly) are to be deemed mode adverbs. Furthermore, the noun phrase-like periphrasis d’una manera + adjective (= in a(n) + adjective way) works as if it were an adverb or an adverbial

ho va dir d’una manera molt estranya	(s)he said it in a rather weird way
em parla massa confusament	(s)he speaks to me rather confusingly

>    de pressa >< a poc a poc) (=quickly/fast>< slowly))

hem d’anar de pressa a la botiga	we must go quickly/faster to the shop
sempre camina a poc a poc	(s)he always walk slowly

4. Linkers expressing mode

>    com (=how), always followed by indicative

no sé com funcionen les coses ací	I don’t know how things work out here
t’han dit com van arribar?	did they tell you how they arrived?

>    com que (=since, as), always followed by indicative. It has quite a consecutive value

com que no et veuré durant dos mesos, escriu-me	since I won’t see you for two months, write to me [from time to time]
com que no hi ha aigua, no ens podem dutxar	as/since there’s no water, we can’t take a shower.

>    com si (=as if), always followed by preterit subjunctive

no em parlis com si jo fos un desconegut	don’t talk to me as if I were a stranger
actuen com si jo no hi fos	they act as if I were not present