5 exercises — practise signaling source and certainty with evidential adverbs in postmortems and reports.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "apparently" to signal a conclusion based on visible evidence, without a named source?
"Apparently, the disk filled up..." is correct: "apparently" is a sentence adverb signaling that the claim is inferred from observable evidence (here, the timing of the write errors) rather than confirmed with certainty. Only the adverb form "apparently" (ending in -ly) can function this way; "apparent" is an adjective and cannot modify a whole clause as a sentence adverb. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly use the adjective "apparent" in adverb-requiring positions, which is ungrammatical — an adjective cannot directly modify a verb ("filled") or introduce a full clause.
2 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "reportedly" to attribute a claim to an unnamed external source?
"Is reportedly fixing" is correct: "reportedly" is a mid-position sentence adverb that fits naturally between the auxiliary "is" and the main verb "fixing", signaling that the claim comes from a report or external source rather than the writer's direct knowledge — this is the standard, most natural placement for this adverb with a progressive verb form. Option A places "reportedly" awkwardly and less idiomatically before "is" rather than between the auxiliary and main verb. Option B incorrectly uses "reported" (a past participle, not an adverb) in a position that would require a passive construction, which this sentence does not have. Option D similarly misuses "reported" without the necessary passive structure ("is reported to be fixing" would be needed for that pattern).
3 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "evidently" to draw a confident conclusion from clear technical evidence?
"Evidently, the deadlock was caused..." is correct: "evidently" (the adverb) functions as a sentence adverb expressing that the conclusion is clearly supported by evidence — here, the thread dump — and is the only grammatically valid choice to open and modify the whole clause this way. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly substitute "evident" (the adjective), which requires a linking verb and different structure (e.g., "it is evident that...") and cannot directly modify a verb phrase or stand as a sentence-initial adverb.
4 / 5
Which sentence correctly uses "supposedly" to express skepticism about an unverified technical claim?
"Is supposedly thread-safe" is correct and the most natural placement: "supposedly" signals that the claim of thread-safety is asserted (perhaps by the library's authors) but not verified or trusted by the writer, and the mid-position between "is" and the adjective "thread-safe" is the idiomatic slot for this sentence adverb. Option B incorrectly uses "supposed" without "to be" (the correct related structure would be "is supposed to be thread-safe"), making it ungrammatical as written. Option C inserts an extra, ungrammatical "be" that does not belong in the sentence. Option D places "supposedly" at the end of the clause, which is grammatically possible but less natural and less idiomatic than the standard mid-position placement shown in option A.
5 / 5
A postmortem draft says: "_____ , the certificate had expired six hours before the outage began." Choose the evidential adverb best signaling a conclusion drawn from log evidence, not a direct quote or report.
"Evidently" is the best fit: it signals a conclusion reached through direct observation of evidence (the logs showing the expiration timestamp), which matches a postmortem's typical basis in log data rather than secondhand reports. "Reportedly" (option A) implies the information came from someone else's report or statement, not directly observed log evidence. "Allegedly" (option B) is typically used for unproven, often legally or ethically loaded claims (e.g., accusations), which is a mismatched register and connotation for a technical timestamp fact. "Supposedly" (option D) implies skepticism or doubt about the claim's truth, which does not fit a postmortem stating a fact confirmed directly from certificate expiration data.