More Quickly / Faster
Feb 14th 2012 02:27
adverb-selection
(A) Some people believe that women master foreign languages more quickly than men.
(B) Some people believe that women master foreign languages faster than men.
I think (A) is correct but (B) is not.
Is my understanding right?
And if so, would you mind telling me why you think "fast" is inappropriate here?
(B) Some people believe that women master foreign languages faster than men.
I think (A) is correct but (B) is not.
Is my understanding right?
And if so, would you mind telling me why you think "fast" is inappropriate here?
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So I seem to have been too worried about the difference between the two phrases.
Thank you so much, Halcyon-san!!
In fact, "fast" is both an adjective and an adverb; it is unusual among adjectives in that it doesn't have a different adverbial form. The sentence "Mary learns fast" is grammatically correct; "fast" is an adverb in this sentence.
Some words ending in "-ly" form a comparative by changing "-ly" to "-lier" (for example "earlier") and others form a comparative by being preceded by "more" ("more quickly"). I would say that the comparative form of the irregular adverb "fast" is indeed "faster", and that there is nothing wrong with sentence (B). I'm not entirely sure of this, but both sentences sound completely natural to me. Certainly "more fast" sounds wrong, even when "fast" is being used as an adverb.
It seems "quickly" and "fast" can be practically equally used, at least in this context.
Thanks a lot! =)