accidentally

accidentally — adverb

1. doing something without meaning to, usually because of carelessness, a slip of a

1.副詞B1
釋義

doing something without meaning to, usually because of carelessness, a slip of attention, or pure chance.

例句

Maria accidentally deleted the photos of her grandmother from the laptop.

accidentally + past tense verb

The chef accidentally added salt to the cake instead of sugar.

accidentally + past tense verb in main clause

同義詞
  • unintentionally

    more formal; stresses the lack of intention rather than chance

  • by mistake

    phrase, very common in speech; emphasises an error

  • by chance

    covers the 'unplanned meeting / discovery' meaning, not the 'made an error' meaning

  • inadvertently

    formal, often in writing or news; suggests carelessness

反義詞

文法句型

accidentally + past tense verb

accidentally + past participle (passive)

用法筆記

Almost always placed directly before the main verb, or between auxiliary and past participle in passive form. Rarely used at the very end of a clause.

常見錯誤

❌I broke the cup accidentally last night and not on purpose.
✅I accidentally broke the cup last night.
💡natural English puts 'accidentally' before the verb, not at the end.
❌She accidentally on purpose forgot the keys.
✅She forgot the keys on purpose.
💡'accidentally' and 'on purpose' have opposite meanings; don't mix them in one phrase.