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Unit 1: English In A Minute
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Session 86

Welcome to English In A Minute. Give us a minute and we'll give you a hot tip about English. Grammar, vocabulary... there's so much to learn! And all taught by your favourite BBC Learning English staff!

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

Fine vs finely

Do you have a minute to spare to learn some English? Saskia's done a fine job of explaining fine vs finely! Give us 60 seconds and we'll give you the English

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Saskia
Hi! I'm Saskia from BBC Learning English. Do you know how to use fine and finely?

They can both be used as adverbs but fine can also be used as an adjective. Let's look at some sentences.

I broke my phone yesterday but it's working fine now. Here fine is an adverb of manner because it indicates doing something in a satisfactory manner.

I was tired but I feel fine now. Here fine is an adjective but notice how it sits after the verb and it means 'OK'

I ruined the recipe. I forgot to finely chop the onions. In this sentence, finely is an adverb of degree and it describes how small something needs to be cut up.

Right I'm going to try that recipe again. I won't forget to finely chop the onions this time! Bye for now!

Fine vs finely

Fine
Fine can be an adverb an adverb of manner meaning 'done in a satisfactory manner'. It can also be an adjective meaning 'OK, good or well'

  • I broke my phone yesterday but it's working fine now.
  • I was tired but I feel fine now.

Finely
Finely is an adverb of degree and describes how small something needs to be cut.  

  • I forgot to finely chop the onions.
  • Take some finely sliced ham and put it in the sandwich.

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