Position of Adverbs

Adverbs of Manner: They answer to the questions beginning with How…? They
usually modify verbs. The usual position is end or final position, e.g.:

The crowd waited patiently.

He laughed quietly.

If the verb in the sentence is transitive, the usual position is after the object, e.g.:

He played the guitar loudly.

There is an exception to this rule, that is, when the object is very long the adverb
of manner is placed before it, e.g.:

She painted attentively the portrait of his smart good-looking fellow.

When the adverb of manner is placed before the verb, it denotes emphasis.

When we turned round, it had quickly disappeared.

When the adverb of manner is placed at the beginning of the sentence, the
intention is to trigger the reader to continue reading, e.g.

Slowly, she took the pepper gas out of her handbag…

When there is more than one verb in the sentence, care should be taken as to
where the adverb of manner is placed; if the adverb is placed at the end of the
clause, it will modify the verb in the clause, e.g.:

He said quietly that they should leave the house.

He said that they should leave the house quietly.

In the passive voice the adverb of manner nearly always precedes the main verb,
e.g.:

The books have been conveniently arranged by subjects.

These dresses must have been very cheaply produced.

If two adverbs of manner occur in the same sentence, they are joined by a
coordinating conjunction, e.g.:

He does his work efficiently and with great care.

Adverbs of Place

They answer to the question Where…? They always modify the verb. The usual
position is at the end or after the adverb of manner and before the adverb of time:

I shall be over there.

He got quickly into the limousine and drove off.

The children played outside all the afternoon.

If more than one adverb of place is used, the more particular precedes the more
general, e.g.:

He is in the bedroom downstairs.

When there is a close link in meaning between a verb and an adverb, then the
adverb goes next to the verb, e.g.:

He usually goes to bed early.

My parents moved to this neighborhood last year.

When used with specific verbs expressing movement, adverbs and adverbials of
place take precedence over adverbs of manner, e.g.:

You’ll get there easier and quicker by train.

They’ll arrive here anyway in time for lunch.

Adverbs of Time

They answer to the question When…? The usual position is at the end of the
sentence, e.g.:

I will be leaving tonight.

Mary picked strawberries enthusiastically in the fields yesterday morning.

MANNER PLACE TIME

They are also placed in front position either for emphasis or to avoid a long string of
adverbs at the end of the sentence, e.g.:

Yesterday morning Mary picked strawberries enthusiastically in the fields.

If more than one adverb of time is used, the more particular precedes the more
general, e.g.:

I’m leaving at twelve tomorrow.

+ SPECIFIC + GENERAL

Already, yet and still:

We use already to refer to something which has happened or may have happened
before the moment of speaking. Already can sometimes suggest surprise on the
part of the speaker, that something is unexpected:
Is it eleven  already? (The speaker didn’t expect it to be so late.)

We use yet most commonly in questions and negatives, to talk about things which

are expected but which have not happened. It takes end position.
Is it eleven  yet? (The speaker thinks that probably it’s almost eleven.)
Where are you going on holidays? I haven’t decided yet.
We use still  to refer to the continuation of a situation. It takes mid position, that is
before the main verb or after the verb “to be”

I still  meet my friends from my schooldays now and then. (I continue to meet my
friends)

She’s still at university.

Negatives with still suggest that the situation should have changed, but it has not:
Note the position of the adverb before the negative form, e.g.:
I still  haven’t  found my keys. I know they are here somewhere. (I’ve been looking
for them for a long time. I should have found them by now).

No longer, any longer and any more.

No longer means that something is over, finished. It goes in mid position, e.g.:

You can’t buy these bikes now. They no longer make them.

Any longer has the same meaning as no longer but this phrase goes at the end and
the verb takes the negative auxiliary:

They don´t make these bikes any longer.

They don´t make these bikes any more. (this is more informal)
Adverbs of Frequency

They answer to the questions beginning with How often…? They are placed in mid
position before the main verb and after the verb “to be”, e.g.:

We usually take the train at 7:30.

They are sometimes annoyed at his answers.

When the adverb of frequency expresses how many times an action is performed, it
takes end position or front position, e.g.:

I see him every week.

Twice a week I go jogging (a bit more emphatic)

We´ve been there many times

The adverbs normally, usually, often, occasionally and sometimes can also go in
front or end position, where they have more emphasis, e.g.:

Normally, there is no difficulty.

I feel depressed sometimes.

You can change the position of an adverb of time to lend emphasis to a certain
aspect of a sentence. For example:

Later  they called the police. (The time is the most important element here.)

They  later called the police. (This is a formal way to use the adverb later. Notice
how the statement sounds like it belongs in a police report.)

They called the police later. (This is a neutral, standard way to use the
adverb later.)

Adverbs of time describing for how long an action occurred usually work best at the
end of a sentence. For example:

She stayed at her grandmother’s house  all day.

My father was up with heartburn for hours.

Adverbs of time that express an exact number of times the action happens usually
work best at the end of a sentence, e.g.:

The newspaper arrives  daily.

They go out to dinner weekly.

Our family goes on an outing monthly.

When using more than one adverb of time in a sentence, use them in the following
order:

1. How long

2. How often

3. When

She visited us (1)  for a week  (2) every month  (3) last year.

Adverbs of Degree

They answer to the question How much…? This type of adverbs can modify verbs,
adjectives and other adverbs, e.g.:

She doesn’t work enough.

These books are rather old.

He plays the piano very well.

The adverbs indeed, else and enough are placed after the adverb or adjective they
modify, e.g.:

He drove fast indeed.

Let’s go somewhere else.

She explained clearly enough.

In the case of enough we can find a pattern:

V+ adj/adv + enough + for sb + to inf, e.g.:

She explained clearly enough for us to understand.

This pattern also applies for the adverb “too”.

Sometimes the adverb too is confused with very. Certainly they are not the same,
e.g.:

She speaks French very quickly.

She speaks French too quickly for us to understand.

The adverb very + a positive adjective is preferred to the opposite of that adjective,
so as not to sound rude, e.g.:

The opposite of “She is beautiful.” should be “She is ugly”, which sounds rude then,

She is not very beautiful is preferred.

The adverbs much, a lot, a little, a bit, terribly and awfully go at the end of a
sentence:

I ride my bike a lot.

Let´s rest a little.

My foot hurts terribly

Quite and Rather

Quite usually means “fairly”, “to some degree”, e.g.:

I feel quite tired now.

The lecture was quite interesting.

In speech if we stress quite, it means “fairly but not very”. The meaning is
negative:

The exhibition was ‘quite good. (but not very good)

If we stress the adjective, the meaning is positive:

It was quite ‘nice walking through the park.

When both quite and the adjective are stressed, it means completely:

I feel ‘quite ‘exhausted (completely exhausted)

The talk was ‘quite ‘fascinating.

The situation is ‘quite ‘hopeless.

Here are some other adjectives where quite means “completely”: brilliant, perfect,
horrible, dreadful, amazing, extraordinary, ridiculous, impossible (but not possible),
useless ( but not useful), true, false, right, wrong, sure, certain, dead, alone,
different.
When we make a favorable comment, we usually prefer “quite” to “rather”

These shoes are quite cheap.

It´s quite warm today.

In unfavorable comments, we usually prefer “rather”, but quite is possible:

The floor was rather dirty/quite dirty.

The jackets are rather expensive / quite expensive.

Rather in a favourable comment means “to a surprising or unusual degree”:

I thought the speech would be boring. Actually it was rather interesting.

Sentence Adverbs

These adverbs modify the whole sentence. The usual position is at the beginning of
the sentence. They may also be found at the end of the sentence, which shows
attitude or certainty on the part of the speaker

Fortunately, he isn´t ill.

Maybe, they had to work after hours.

There’s no lift, of course.

In a negative sentence probably and certainly come before the auxiliary + n’ t:

We probably won’t be in time.

I certainly didn’t expect a present!

Adverbs of Negation

These are a few adverbs: never, nowhere, seldom, rarely. They usually take mid
position.

They seldom answer my e-mails.

When used in front position, they denote emphasis and they produce inversion of
auxiliary and verb.

Never did I see him.

Nowhere have I seen these vegetables.

Focusing adverbs

They take mid position, that is, they are placed before the verb and after the first
auxiliary:

She just wanted to know who was coming.

I wouldn’t particularly phone him.