Adverb Position
When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible positions within the sentence or clause:
| 1. FRONT – before subject | Now | I will read a book. | |
| 2. MID – between subject + verb | I | often | read books. |
| 3. END – after verb/object | I read books | carefully. |
When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in front of the word that it modifies, for example:
| adverb | adjective | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| She gave him a | really | dirty | look. |
| adverb | adverb | ||
| We | quite | often | study English. |
The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb (manner, place, time, degree). The following table gives you some guidelines for placement based on the kind of adverb.
| kind of adverb | mainly modifies | sentence | usual position | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| adverb | ||||||
| manner | verbs | She spoke | gently. | END | ||
| place | verbs | He lived | here. | END | ||
| time | definite | verbs | I’ll do it | today. | END | |
| frequency | We | often | go to Paris. | MID | ||
| degree | verbs, adj. and adv. | I | nearly | died. | MID | |
| It was | terribly | funny. | before adj. | |||
| He works | really | fast. | before adv. | |||
| Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete. There are many exceptions. | ||||||
نظر شما