English Café: Very Serious or Very Seriously

Advanced Details: Very serious or very seriously?

Below are some sentences with very serious (adjective):

• This safety problem offshore could be very serious.
• Drunken driving during long holidays is a very serious problem in Thailand.
• I have a serious skin problem.
• The increase in suicides in young people has become a very serious social problem worldwide.

Below are some sentences with very seriously (adverb):

• No one was seriously injured in the accident.
• I thought seriously about death while I was in the hospital.
• You should seriously consider buying a new car
• But very seriously, we’ve had really positive feedback from all sorts of people. (You use seriously to indicate that you are not joking and that you really mean what you say.)
• Are you taking this problem very seriously? (You say “seriously” when you are surprised by what someone has said, as a way of asking them if they really mean it.)
• Relax. You need to stop taking life so (very) seriously. Enjoy life. It’s short.