The musical, ‘Footloose,’ had been taking place since Thursday. My wife and daughter had been involved for the past three weeks and my son, Oliver, kept asking…and begging…and pleading to see the show. (1) Despite my note, “But, Ollie, they’re not in the show; they’re stagehand,” he still wanted to go. Sunday (3) then arrived and Ollie says to me, “Can we please go to the show?” “Yes, sweet boy,” I replied, coming to the realization that he didn’t necessarily need (4) too see his mom and sister. (2) He just wanted to exist in the same space and time - kind of cute, actually.

Question

#2 Identify and explain the purpose of the adverb in (2):

Answer 1

The purpose of the adverb "actually" in (2) is to add emphasis or surprise to the speaker's statement about finding Oliver's desire to exist in the same space and time cute. It suggests that the speaker had a different expectation or assumption about Oliver's reasons for wanting to go to the show.