PLEASE !!!!! English help

Question

His rather clever remarks were not appreciated. What does the adverb rather modify? A verb a adjective or a adverb?

Answer 1

The adverb rather modifies the adjective clever.

Why?

 

Adverbs answer the questions:

1. How? (How were they clever?)
2. Where? (Where were they clever?)
3. When? (When were they clever?)
4. To what extent? (To what extent were they clever?)
5. Why? (Why were they clever?)

In this question, rather answers to what extent the remarks were clever. Similar sentences would be "His very clever remarks were not appreciated" or "His quite clever remarks were not appreciated."

Answer 2

The subject of this sentence is the noun "remarks."  The word "clever" describes, or modifies, the noun "remarks." As we know, words that modify nouns are called adjectives. Clever is, therefore, by definition, an adjective. Now the question remains, what does "rather" modify? In this case, it tells us more about the word "clever." The remarks aren't "very" clever or "extremely" clever. They are only "rather" clever.  Therefore, "rather" modifies the adjective. 

Answer 3

The adverb "rather" is modifying the adjective "clever" in this sentence.