Can say that you’re in the right

place at the right time now?

Is it important to be in the right

place at the right time?
Position of Adverbs
Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

She’s indubitably captivating.

How certain are we with her charm? Indubitably.

He runs very fast.

How fast does he run? Very fast.

I occasionally practice speaking English.

How frequently do I practice? Occasionally.
The position of adverbs in the sentence
depends on what type of adverb it is. Here
are some general guidelines for knowing
the position of adverbs:
1. Do not place an adverb between a verb
and its object

In the following sentence, painted is the verb, and the

house is the object. Carefully is the adverb.

• I carefully painted the house. = correct

• I painted the house carefully. = correct
• I painted carefully the house. = incorrect
1. Do not place an adverb between a verb
and its object

Here’s another example. In this sentence, read is the verb, a

book is object, and sometimes is the adverb.

• I sometimes read a book before bed. = correct

• Sometimes I read a book before bed. = correct
• I read a book before bed sometimes. = OK, but informal
• I read sometimes a book before bed. = incorrect
2. The position of adverbs depends on their type. Some adverbs can
go in various positions.

Adverbs of Manner: quickly, slowly, easily, happily, well,

badly, seriously

• Mid-position give less emphasis to the adverb:

He quickly corrected his mistake.
She easily passed the test.
We happily accepted the invitation.
2. The position of adverbs depends on their type. Some adverbs can
go in various positions.
Adverbs of Manner

• End-position gives more emphasis to the adverb:

He corrected his mistake quickly.
She passed the test easily.
We accepted the invitation happily.

*adverbs of manner not ending in –ly (like well, hard, and fast) can
only appear in the end position:

• They dance well.

• He’s working hard.
• She runs fast.
2. The position of adverbs depends on their type. Some adverbs can go
in various positions.

Adverbs of Time and Frequency

Definite Frequency: daily, weekly, every year, last

Front-position or end position (more common).

• I study English every day.

• Every day, I study English.
• We went to Australia last year.
• Last year we went to Australia.

The single-word adverbs cannot go in the front position:

• I speak with my mother daily.

• Let’s meet weekly to share updates on the project.
2. The position of adverbs depends on their type. Some adverbs can
go in various positions.
Adverbs of Time and Frequency

Indefinite Frequency: often, usually, frequently, occasionally, sometimes, rarely,

always, never, finally, eventually, soon

ALWAYS and NEVER go in the mid-position, before the verb:

• I always wake up early.

• We never imagined this would be so hard.

The others go in various positions:

• Usually I take the bus to work.

• I usually take the bus to work.
• Soon you’ll be finished with school.
• You’ll soon be finished with school.
• You’ll be finished with school soon.
• We occasionally drink wine.
• We drink wine occasionally.
• We drink occasionally wine.
2. The position of adverbs depends on their type. Some adverbs can go in
various positions.

Adverbs of Place: downstairs, south/southward,

towards, backwards, everywhere

Usually go in end-position or mid-position immediately

after the verb:

• The children are playing outside.

• The glass shattered and the pieces flew everywhere.
• They drove south/southward on the highway.
• He walked towards the police station.
POP QUIZ!