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
- Where adverbials go in a sentence 2
Comments
This sentence is correct?
I never have seen William at work.
Hello Ricardo,
The word order needs to be changed -- it should be: 'I have never seen William at work.'
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Dear Kirk,
Thank you so much for your quick and detailed answer!)
Have a nice day!
Hello,
explain me the correct word order:
1 He works in a hospital as a doctor
or 2 He works as a doctor in a hospital
My grammar book teaches me to use the first variant. But I learned before that we need to use the adverb of manner (I mean "as a doctor") and then the adverb of place ("in a hospital")
I hope you understand me)
Hello Allessya,
Both sentences are correct. The position of adverbial phrases is flexible and depends a lot on context. For example, imagine that we are talking about your friend who is a doctor (and works in a hospital) and also a professor (and works at a university). If I misunderstood where he works as a doctor and asked 'Is he seeing any patients at the university today?', you could correct my misunderstanding with sentence 1, with emphasis on the word 'hospital' to show me the error I made.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
DearSir
Please explain this to me: The mayor declared open the lab.
The mayor declared opened the lab (is this wrong) I think this is wrong . The first is correct but why the second is wrong; (if it is wrong).
Thank you
Regards
Andrew international
Hello Andrew international,
The direct object with 'declare' usually follows the verb:
The first example tells us about the state of the lab - the adjective 'open' describes the lab. The second example uses a participle and has a passive meaning. It tells us that the lab has been opened by someone (possibly the speaker). Thus we can say, for example:
The doctor declared the man dead. [adjective]
The police declared the man murdered. [participle - passive meaning]
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi!
I'd like to ask if we can use "through" with the meaning "because of".
Is it natural to use such form? Are there some exceptions, when we should't use it?
Thanks
Hi Liza,
It's easier for us to comment if you can provide an example sentence using the structure. I think the use you are thinking about does not exactly mean 'because of' but rather 'thanks to' or 'as a result of'. In other words, it does not describe the person's reason so much as what makes something possible:
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello there,
If I rephrase the following question from the exercise, would it be still grammatically correct?
'The minister ANGRILY refused to answer any more of the journalists’ questions.'
(rephrase) 'The minister refused ANGRILY to answer any more of the journalists’ questions.'
Also, I think the following question 'Hilary went into a cafe and ordered QUICKLY a cup of coffee' is correct because we should put the adverbials after the verb. I know for emphasis we can put the adverbial before the main verb.
Additionally, do you think I have structured the following sentence correclty 'If I rephrase the following question from the exercise, would it be still grammatically correct?
As always, thank you for your help.
Kind Regards,
SK
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