[Grammar] Babies often speak using simply words and phrases

[echecsvh]

Hello, thanks for answering.

I had this sentence as an exercise, to mark it as correct or incorrect: "Babies often speak using simply words and phrases". The teacher said that "simply" should be replaced with "simple". My question id the following: Could "simply" also be OK, like an adverb modifying "speak"?

Thank you.

 

[MikeNewYork]

No. "Simply" is trying to modify "words" which is a noun. Use "simple".

 

[tedmc]

"Simply" could be an adverb modifying the verb "using".

not a teacher

 

[MikeNewYork]

Then I would place "simply" before the verb.

 

[Rover_KE]

Babies don't speak.

'Children learning to talk use simple words and phrases.'