核心问题
Sadly, he could not ask Portia to marry him because he himself had no money.
上句中的sadly是修饰哪个成分的？
词典解答
上句中的 sadly 叫做句子状语,它不修饰句中的某一个成分,而是修饰整个句子的。它表示说话人对句子内容所作的评论:“不幸的是”“可悲的是”。说话人认为陈述内容是幸运的或不幸的副词还有:(un)happily,(un)fortunately,(un)luckily。
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Happily, the doctor arrived in time. 幸好,医生及时赶到了。
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There was an accident but fortunately nobody was hurt. 出了一起事故，幸而无人受伤。
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Sadly, he failed the examination. 很不幸,他考试不及格。
请与下句中的 sadly(修饰动词 said)作对比：
When the cup was at last returned to the teacher, he said sadly ... 当这个杯子最后传回老师手中时,他不高兴地说……