Where adverbials go in a sentence

Level: beginner

We normally put adverbials after the verb:

He spoke angrily.
They live just here.
We will go in a few minutes.

If the verb has an object or complement we put the adverbial after the object or complement:

He opened the door quietly.
She left the money on the table.
We saw our friends last night.
You are looking tired tonight.

But adverbials of frequency (how often) usually come in front of the main verb:

We usually spent our holidays with our grandparents.
I have never seen William at work.

If we want to emphasise an adverbial, we can put it at the beginning of a clause:

Last night we saw our friends.
In a few minutes we will go.
Very quietly he opened the door.

If we want to emphasise an adverb of manner, we can put it in front of the main verb:

He quietly opened the door.
She had carefully put the glass on the shelf.

Where adverbials go in a sentence 1

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Where adverbials go in a sentence 2

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Average: 4.4 (20 votes)

Submitted by howtosay_ on Wed, 12/07/2023 - 12:13

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Hello, dear teachers and team!

Can you please help me with the following:

Which sentences are correct:

1. We talked to a counselor also.

2. We also talked to a counselor.

3. Chris came from England. Martin also.

4. Chris came from England. Martin also did.

I'm very grateful for your constant help and contribution to my knowledge, and thank you very much indeed for answering to this comment!

Hello howtosay_,

1 and 2 are fine, though 2 is better than 1 in the vast majority of cases. When we put 'also' at the end like this, it's usually when speaking and we realise that we should add it after we've already said the other part of the sentence. It's also possible in other circumstances, but in general 2 is better.

3 is also fine, and although 4 is grammatically correct it sounds quite unnatural to my ears, at least. For both of those I think the most common second sentence would be either 'So did Martin' or 'Martin did too'.

All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team

Submitted by englishlearnin… on Wed, 22/02/2023 - 10:23

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Hello in the sentence ‘A cloud passed over the sun.’ Is ‘over the sun’ adverbial? If so can i just say ‘a cloud passed’? Thank you!!

Hi englishlearningenglish,

Yes, it is an adverbial. The verb "pass" can intransitive, so "a cloud passed" is also grammatically fine.

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

LearnEnglish team

Submitted by howtosay_ on Tue, 03/01/2023 - 00:11

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Hello!

Could you please answer this question:

Do you say "People work very hard in Japan" or "People in Japan work very hard". Which one is correct?

I appreciate your contribution to our knowledge and thank you very much for answering this question beforehand!

Hi howtosay_,

They are both grammatically correct. However, the emphasis is slightly different. Things are often emphasised if they are positioned at the beginnings or ends of sentences, so the first sentence seems to emphasise "in Japan". Perhaps the speaker would say this if they want to make a comparison, e.g. "People work very hard in Japan, but not so hard in [another place]. The place (Japan / another place) is the main point.

In the second sentence, "in Japan" doesn't seem particularly emphasised. The speaker might say this if "in Japan" is just a detail here, not the main point. Instead the main point seems to be "work very hard", e.g. "People in Japan work very hard, so the economy is growing".

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Faii on Fri, 20/05/2022 - 05:39

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This lesson is helpful.but I'm still not sure where to put an adverb in a passive sentence.I saw two sentences in my text book and in first sentence they have put the adverb after the first auxiliary verb whereas in the second sentence,they put it after second auxiliary verb.
1.Britain has long been known .......
2.The driver has been seriously injured.
They didn't give any explanation so it's a bit confusing:(

Hello Faii,

Adverbial position is a complex issue, as you can see, and it very much depends on the type of adverbial you have.

In passive sentences adverbs of degree like seriously, slightly, minimally, severely etc. are placed before the main verb and after the auxiliary verb(s). This is why in your second sentence the adverb is before 'injured' (the main verb) and after 'has been' (the auxiliary verbs).

 

Adverbs of frequency and duration come before 'been' in passive sentences:

This has long (briefly, eternally / often, rarely, never) been seen...

 

I hope that helps to clarify it for you.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by OlaIELTS on Sat, 27/06/2020 - 00:38

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This is absolutely helpful.

Submitted by raphway on Fri, 21/02/2020 - 10:15

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"Corruption is very widespread" Hello, is the above sentence correct please?

Hello raphway

Yes, that is grammatically correct. Well done!

Best wishes

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by amrita_enakshi on Mon, 21/01/2019 - 12:16

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Sir Can an adverb of degree qualify an adverb of time? Ex: We started rather early for the camp. As per my understanding , rather is ( ad of degree) and early is (ad of time). Kindly explain. Thank you.
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Mon, 21/01/2019 - 18:29

In reply to by amrita_enakshi

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Hi amrita_enakshi

Yes, 'rather early', 'very early', etc. are all correct -- adverbs like 'rather' and 'very' are often called intensifiers since they strengthen the meanings of other words or phrases.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by SajadKhan on Mon, 16/07/2018 - 12:33

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Hi there, In task one there is a sentence, "I don’t USUALLY watch football on TV,.. ". I did it wrong because I thought 'Usually' should come before don't i.e "I usually don't watch football on TV.. " is this correct too? and if it is, then is there some different between the two or they mean same? Regards
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Submitted by Kirk Moore on Tue, 17/07/2018 - 00:59

In reply to by SajadKhan

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Hi SajadKhan,

Adverbs of frequency (like 'usually') usually go in front of the main verb. In the sentence you ask about, 'watch' is the main verb and 'don't' is the auxiliary verb, which is why the correct answer is what it is. That said, your version of the sentence is not exactly wrong; it's just not the standard location for the adverb. There is no difference in meaning between the two, though sometimes putting the adverb at the beginning of the sentence gives it more emphasis -- though in such a case it is usually the first word.

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by mou on Wed, 14/03/2018 - 11:09

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I suppose what you have explained here are the ground rules we put the adverbials "after the object or complement" (the second instance in the text above) : He opened the door quietly. Following the rule, you have placed 'quietly' in the end. If this is the case then do you think the following sentence is correct? "He said goodnight to her and quietly shut the bedroom door." In this particular sentence, 'quietly' has been placed before the object. Please help. As a matter of fact, I am always confused when it comes to using a preposition at a proper place. If you see, I have written a sentence within the bracket and have placed 'above' in the end. Is this correct?

Hello mou,

The position of adverbs in the sentence is quite flexible. For example, all of these sentence are correct:

He opened the door quietly.

He quietly opened the door.

Quietly, he opened the door.

In certain contexts (such as literary works) other positions may even be possible, though unusual. However, certain positions are more common than others and so we indicate these on the page (normally, usually, we can...).

The preposition 'above' in your sentence is correct. It comes after 'text' because it describes the position of the text. There is an implied object after the preposition: ...the text above this.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by XuMinHa on Sun, 04/03/2018 - 13:15

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Hi In Mr. Peter M replied on 12 February, 2018, he said :You can use 'only' in several ways : You should only speak to him. You only should speak to him. You should speak to him only / to only him. So why is this sentence just only said that You should only take the red pills, not the blue ones. not You only should take the red pills, not the blue ones. Why is that? Please explain it to me. Thanks
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Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 05/03/2018 - 07:13

In reply to by XuMinHa

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Hi XuMinHa,

The normal word order - the natural word order in almost all contexts - is with the adverb 'only' before the main verb:

You should only take the red pills, not the blue ones.

 

Other positions are possible, but they are unusual and require a particular contexts or intentions. Unless this is somehow indicated then the 'standard' word order should be used. In other words, we use the word order above unless we need to emphasise a particular meaning.

I hope that clarifies it for you.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by pumbi on Sun, 11/02/2018 - 20:06

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Hi Sir, "I think that you also should quit smoking." "We only have a very small garden." You only have to look at the statistics to see that things are getting worse. But most of the grammar books say that "also, only etc" words should come after the modal or auxiliary verbs. Actually, is it a fixed rule?. If so are these sentences wrong?. Please explain the right syntax and usage.
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Submitted by Peter M. on Mon, 12/02/2018 - 08:12

In reply to by pumbi

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Hi pumbi,

It is correct that adverbs such as 'also', 'only', 'just' and so on generally come after modal verbs:

You should only take the red pills, not the blue ones.

not

You only should take the red pills, not the blue ones.

 

However, your examples do not fit your rule. Your second example uses 'have' as a main verb and so the adverb is in the correct place. If you use 'have got' then the position changes:

We only have a very small garden.

We have only got a very small garden.

 

In your third example you use the verb 'have to', which is not considered a modal (it is sometimes called a 'semi-modal'). Unlike modal verbs it is followed by an infinitive with 'to' and uses auxiliaries to form negatives and questions rather than simply adding 'not' or inverting the word order.

 

Further, the rule you quote is not fixed. The position of the adverb is quite flexible and depends on the meaning we intend. You can use 'only' in several ways:

You should only speak to him. [do no more than speak]

You only should speak to him. [no-one else should do this]

You should speak to him only / to only him. [not to anyone else]

 

We can see similar options in your first example:

I also think that you should quit smoking. [I share this opinion]

I think that you also should quit smoking. [someone has quit and so should you]

I think that you should also quit smoking. [you have done something and you should quit smoking as well as this]

 

It is a complex area. I hope these comments help to clarify it for you.

 

Best wishes,

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team