Exercise with adverbs

[laepelba]

The instructions for this exercise are: "Some of the underlined words can act as adverbs with no changes. Others require a change or need the suffix -mente. Give the forms of the words that need to be changed."

My questions are as follows:

3) Given sentence: Ella me miró frío y me ordenó que me marchara inmediato.
The book's answer: Ella me miró fríamente y me ordenó que me marchara inmediato.
My question: How commonly is fríamente used? And why not use inmediatemente?

5) Given sentence: Los veo regular sin gafas.
The book's answer: No changes.
My question: Really? Is regular used in this way as an adverb? Because in another sentence in the same set, they say you should change "Corto el césped regular" to "Corto el césped regularmente". Wouldn't that be the same thing as the sentence given here in #5?

6) Given sentence: Los pacientes están regular. No mejoran claro.
The book's answer: Los pacientes están regular. No mejoran claramente.
My question: I don't understand the meaning of either sentence. What are they trying to say here?

9) Given sentence: Actúa tranquilo y conduce cuidadoso.
The book's answer: Actúa tranquilo y conduce cuidadosamente.
My question: I'm not quite sure I understand the meaning of the sentences. What are they trying to say? Something like "Act quiet and behave carefully"???

Thanks for any help you can give me!

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by laepelba

3) Given sentence: Ella me miró frío y me ordenó que me marchara inmediato.
The book's answer: Ella me miró fríamente y me ordenó que me marchara inmediato.
My question: How commonly is fríamente used? And why not use inmediatemente?

Ella me miró fríamente/con frialdad y me ordenó que me marchara de inmediato/inmediatamente.

Yes, fríamente is used.

Originally Posted by laepelba

5) Given sentence: Los veo regular sin gafas.
The book's answer: No changes.
My question: Really? Is regular used in this way as an adverb? Because in another sentence in the same set, they say you should change "Corto el césped regular" to "Corto el césped regularmente". Wouldn't that be the same thing as the sentence given here in #5?

regularmente ---> periodically, as scheduled, (it suggests regular intervals)
regular (as an adverb) ---> so so, not so good

I'd rather say "Sin gafas/anteojos los veo más o menos", but regular is OK.

Originally Posted by laepelba

6) Given sentence: Los pacientes están regular. No mejoran claro.
The book's answer: Los pacientes están regular. No mejoran claramente.
My question: I don't understand the meaning of either sentence. What are they trying to say here?

My bad translation, but you might get the sense.

The patients are so-so. They are not getting better clearly.

Originally Posted by laepelba

9) Given sentence: Actúa tranquilo y conduce cuidadoso.
The book's answer: Actúa tranquilo y conduce cuidadosamente.
My question: I'm not quite sure I understand the meaning of the sentences. What are they trying to say? Something like "Act quiet and behave carefully"???

"conduce" comes from conducir (to drive, to lead, to conduct), and has nothing to do with conducta and conducirse or comportarse (to behave)

tranquilo is calm, not quiet, you might be thinking in "¡tranquilos!" (calm down! slow down! which may imply indirectly "be quiet!")

Act calmly and drive carefully.

[chileno]

I agree with everything, but #5

In this I read "regular" as "usually"

I regularly come to this place around 5pm.

[laepelba]

Quote:

My bad translation, but you might get the sense.

The patients are so-so. They are not getting better clearly.

Thanks to both of you. Sorry I'm so long in checking back. It's been a rough year at work.

Anyway - I follow all of your answers except this one. I can follow your explanation about the first sentence. But not the second. "They are not getting better clearly" makes no sense to me in English....... Is there a way you can explain the meaning without translating? It really is the word "claro/claramente/clearly" that is messing me up...

Thank you!

[Rusty]

If you change the sentence up a bit, I think you'll see more clearly.

Clearly, they aren't getting better.
They are clearly not getting better.
They are not getting better, clearly.

[laepelba]

Ooooh!!!! Thanks, Rusty.... So, in Spanish, it would be acceptable to say that "claro" at the end of the sentence? And to write it without a comma?

[Rusty]

I would be tempted to write it with a comma in that position. I would do the same with the book's answer:
No mejoran, claramente.

You could use a clause to say the same thing without a comma:
Claro es que no mejoran.
Es claro que no mejoran.

[aleCcowaN]

The sentence should be:

No es claro que mejoren.

meaning, there may be hints of them getting better, but nothing clear at all, and some elements even contradict each other. Seeing "they are getting better" is just the effect of wishful thinking or the expected result of a treatment, but in fact it is not clear that is what is happening.

It's very strange to me to see this precise adjective used as an adverb and at the end of the sentence, but it is a way we could say it.

[laepelba]

Thanks for all of the input. I just think it's a strange sentence..... But I now understand what they were getting at...