Question
8 Nov 2020
- English (US) Near fluent
-
English (US)
-
English (UK)
Question about English (UK)
What's the difference between
'She is really a good-looking girl'
'She is a really good-looking girl'
What's the difference between
'She is really a good-looking girl'
'She is a really good-looking girl'
'She is really a good-looking girl'
'She is a really good-looking girl'
Answers
Read more comments
- English (UK)
- English (US)
In (2), "really" modifies/emphasises the "good-looking".
In (1), "really" modifies/emphasises the FACT that she "is" good-looking, but not the extent to which she is good-looking.
It's quite difficult to explain, so let me know if you have any more questions.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (UK)
Imagine you see a girl whose face is covered in mud and with dishevelled hair and she looked very messy. She could look unattractive, but you can say "She really is a good looking girl" where "really" here means "in normal or other circumstances, to emphasise that in normal circumstances you'd call her good looking.
If you were describing a pretty girl, you can say "She is a really good-looking girl" where "really" applies to "good-looking" to emphasis the fact that she is pretty.
Highly-rated answerer
- English (US) Near fluent

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