relatively?

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Polyester

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I have underlined in red below sentences, please explain to me why write this word adding "ly" in the end?

Other efforts to support the financial markets have largely flopped -- a much-hyped pilot program to connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges has attracted relatively little investor interest.
 

MikeNewYork

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The -ly makes it an adverb. As an adverb it modifies the adjective "little".
 

Polyester

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Can I put here?

Other efforts to support the financial markets have largely flopped -- a much-hyped pilot program to connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges has relatively attracted little investor interest.
 

MikeNewYork

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Polyester

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Reason!?
I think this adverb describes the attracted as same time to describe little.
Both are work for me.
 

MikeNewYork

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I disagree.
 

Polyester

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You have no reason for this issue.
I can't learn from you and English.
I still confused.
 

MikeNewYork

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Sorry. But not all why questions have answers. Your proposed structure just doesn't work. You can accept that or not.
 

Tdol

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What it has attracted is little interest. How much? relatively little interest It is modifying the degree of interest, not the attraction. If I kick a fairly big ball, you cannot say that I have fairly kicked the ball- fairly is modifying the size, not the kick. It is the same here.
 

Polyester

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Tdol, what about this example?

We had relatively few applications for the job.

Correct?
 

bhaisahab

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Yes, that's correct.
 

Polyester

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Ok.
My question is....this word describes few?

We had relatively few applications for the job.
 

bhaisahab

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Tdol

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In my earlier post, I maybe didn't make something clear. You cannot say fairly kicked a big ball with the same meaning as kicked a fairly big ball- you might be able to say it in a different context, with a different meaning. If you move an adverb that is modifying an adjective and place it where it modifies a verb, you will usually be changing the meaning.
 

Tarheel

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Ok.
My question is does this word describe few?

We had relatively few applications for the job.

There weren't many. There were just a few. There were not many applications for that job. A small number. Not many.
:)

 

SoothingDave

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"Relatively few applications"

Maybe they usually get 100 applications, but they only got 10 for this job. You may not normally say 10 is a few, but in relation to the normal 100, it is a few. It is relatively a few.
 
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