Position of adverbs
Adverbs of manner which answer the question ‘how?’ normally comes immediately after the verb or after the object if there is one.
- It is raining heavily.
- She combed her hair gently. (NOT She combed gently her hair.)
- She speaks English well. (NOT She speaks well English.)
- He walked slowly.
Adverbs of place (e.g. here, there, everywhere, nowhere, on the roof etc.) and adverbs of time (now, then, today, tomorrow, next week etc.) are usually placed after the verb or after the object if there is one.
- I saw him yesterday.
- I looked everywhere but couldn’t find anything.
- Hang the picture there.
- They are coming next week.
When two or more adverbs modify the same verb, they usually come in the following order: adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time.
- We will go there tomorrow evening.
- He performed well at the concert last night.
Adverbs of frequency which answer the question ‘how often’ (e.g. always, often, rarely, frequently etc.) and some other adverbs likehardly, almost, nearly, just, quite etc., are normally put between the subject and the verb if the verb consists of only one word. If there is more than one word in the verb, the adverb comes after the first word.
- You never visit us.
- I have always wanted to be a writer.
- I have often told him to mend his ways.
- We usually have breakfast at night.
If the verb is a form of be (is/am/are/was/were) these adverbs are placed after the verb.
- I am never late for office.
- We are just off.
Adverbs are usually placed before the auxiliaries have to and used to.
- He always used to agree with me.
- I often have to wake up early in the morning.
An adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb normally comes before the word it modifies.
- She was quite tired.
- He is a rather lazy boy.
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