ENGLISH
REFERENCE

mostly

adv. degree
A2 Elementary Oxford US //ˈmoʊsɫi// UK //mˈəʊstli// most·ly Archaic General-service

adv. mainly or for the most part. You use it when something is true in almost every case, but not quite all of them.

adv. for the greatest part; mainly or chiefly. Used to indicate that a statement is true in the majority of instances or for the bulk of a subject.


SIMPLE

The crowd at the concert is mostly teenagers.

CONTEXTUAL

The weather this week will be mostly sunny, though we might see a few clouds on Thursday afternoon.

COMPLEX

While the report addresses several minor administrative errors, it is mostly concerned with the systemic failure of the communication protocols during the emergency response.

Synonyms
Origin

From most + -ly.

Usage

Typically placed before the adjective or noun phrase it modifies, or after the verb 'to be'.

Pitfall

The mostly of people like pizza.Most people like pizza.Learners often confuse the adverb 'mostly' with the determiner 'most' when talking about quantities of people or things.

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