Help Quick! Adverb question

[janinlondon]

Help!! If I say "Sadly, the situation could not continue" what part of speech is "Sadly"? Its not an adverb - is it? (Year 4 homework saying it is.........!!!)

yes, I think so as it's describing the sad, hence, sadly

Yes, adding ly to an adjective makes it an adverb.

But in that case what verb is the adverb modifying?

I think it is a sentence adverb in that context, i.e. it is modifying the whole sentence; info here

It's modifying an adjective, not a verb

And surely horrendously can be an adjective, even though it ends in ly? eg: horrendously cold?

Duff that seems to make some sense....

If a word modifies an adjective surely its an adjective of degree? Arrrgh! Undoubtedly, I am adrift in a sea of uncertainty.!!!

After much searching I think it might be a disjunct. But I am happy to have someone correct me!

no, a word modifying an adjective is an adverb; adverbs modify verbs (running horrendously), adjectives (horrendously cold), other adverbs (horrendously quickly) and as in the original example,`full sentences.