“It's awfully cold for March.”
You're making small talk with a friend about the weather. It's March, when the weather usually starts to get warm, but today it's snowing. You make this observation.
It's awfully cold for March.
Want Video and Sound? Follow us on YouTube
awfully (something)
"Awfully" is an adverb like "very", "really", "slightly", and so on. It can mean two different things:
- When you're talking about something negative, "awfully ___" can mean "a little too ___":
She's awfully close to the edge there. Tell her to come back over this way.
You must be awfully tired. I'll go get the bed ready for you.
- "Awfully ___" can also mean something between "quite ___" and "very ___":
Oh wow. That was awfully nice of him to let you do that.
I'm awfully proud of you, son.
The most common adjectives to use with "awfully" are:
- awfully good
- awfully nice
- awfully big
- awfully quiet
- awfully long
(adjective) for (something)
When you say that it's "cold for March", it means that the weather is colder than March days usually are.
You can say that something is "___ for ___" whenever you want to compare it to other items in a similar group. For example:
You speak Korean well for an American.
The atmosphere of St. Laurent's is surprisingly down-to-earth for such a traditional French restaurant.