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Grammar Girl wrote in one of her columns:

"Here's another example: in Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut wrote, 'The chief weapon of sea pirates, however, was their capacity to astonish. Nobody else could believe, until it was too late, how heartless and greedy they were.' www.quotationspage.com/quote/35408.html

Again, put a comma before and after however when you use it in the middle of a sentence this way."

Here's my question for this forum: What part of speech is however when it's used as nevertheless surrounded by commas as in the above example......an adverb? What is the adverb modifying in the above sentence?

Also, in the dictionary definition of however listed below, what is the difference between #3 and #5? Why is one an adverb and the other a conjunction? I'm not seeing any difference at all between the two examples. And shouldn't #1 be listed as a conjunctive adverb?

Thanks for the help,

Donna

how·ev·er Audio Help /haʊˈɛvər/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hou-ev-er] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–adverb

1. nevertheless; yet; on the other hand; in spite of that: We have not yet won; however, we shall keep trying.

2. to whatever extent or degree; no matter how: However much you spend, I will reimburse you.

3. in whatever manner: We will allow you to travel however you please.

4. how; how under the circumstances: However did you manage?

–conjunction

5. in whatever way, manner, or state: Arrange your hours however you like.

In the first sentence, "however" is a disjunctive adverb. Disjunctive adverbs express a point of view or a context and modify the entire clause. The previous sentence probably emphasized another aspect of pirates, so "however" alerts the listener or reader that this sentence isn't merely building on the last, but is saying something that contrasts with what's already been said. Other words that can function as disjunctive adverbs are "Anyway, Unfortunately, Nevertheless, Hopefully, Apparently, Typically, Ideally, Frankly, etc."

Some of these can also function as conjunctive adverbs as the word "however" does in #1. Here it is joining two independent clauses, so yes it should be distinguished from sentence #4 where it functions as a pro-adverb of manner.

You are also right that there isn't much difference in its function in #3 and #5. It's a relative adverb in both, but, like relative pronouns, it forms two parts of speech, one is an adverb and the other is a conjunction that subordinates a dependent clause to the main clause. So it's kind of arbitrary to call one instance of "however" an adverb and another a conjunction.

It's also a relative adverb in #2, but that dependent clause does not modify the verb in the independent clause. It modifies the entire clause just like a disjunctive adverb.

To my mind "however" can be a simple conjuction like "but" - it can replace it after all, and I tend to punctuate it thus. However, I have written whole essays on obscure subjects only to have my marker harp on only about this point in the comments section.

It certainly seems more of a conjunction than "in the manner of" which as Donna rightly notes, is classified twice. Arbitrary indeed.