Place of Adverbs in the Sentence

Syntactic Functions of Adverbs

§ 6. Adverbs may modify single words, phrases and sentences.
When they modify verbs, they can serve as adverbial modifiers of
time, frequency, place, manner and degree.

e.g. He was then only fifteen years old. (time)

During my walks I occasionally met people I knew, (frequency)

I went back inside, (place)

I loved her passionately, (degree)

The father held the boy tightly in his arms, (manner)

When adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs, they serve
as adverbial modifiers of degree (as intensifiers).

e.g. My English was too poor to allow me to make speeches.
I led a very pleasant life there.
She left the room so quickly.
It's going to rain pretty soon.

Adverbs of degree can also modify certain kinds of prepositional
phrases.

e.g. They lived nearly on the top of the hill.
I'm almost through with my work.
His remarks were not quite to the point.

There are a few adverbs in English which can function as at-
tributes modifying nouns.

e.g. He was fully master of the situation.
She was quite a child.
Can you see the man over there?
Nobody could explain the noise backstage.

Note. In some combinations the adverbs modifying a noun become adjectivized,
e.g. the then Prime Minister, in the above examples, in after years and some others.

Some groups of adverbs, namely viewpoint, attitudinal and
formulaic ones, modify whole sentences.

e.g. He felt sure that, politically, the proposal might have serious

consequences.

Luckily, I came just in time.
Will you kindly step aside?

Conjunctive adverbs connect what is being said with what was
said before, establishing between two or more statements relations
of enumeration, equality, contrast, result, inference, replacement,
concession, opposition, time and the like.

e.g. He felt ill, yet he didn't stay in.

Paul went away for three days. Meanwhile his family were to

do the packing.

He got wet in the rain and fell ill as a result.
I know you are not a doctor. Nevertheless (still) you could

have bandaged his cut.

§ 7. There are generally four possible positions for adverbs in
the sentence:

1) at the head of the sentence,

2) between the subject and predicate or, if the predicate is a
complicated form, the adverb appears after the first auxiliary
verb, link-verb or a modal verb,

3) before the word the adverb modifies,

4) at the end of the sentence.

Different semantic groups of adverbs tend to appear in differ-
ent positions.

Thus, many adverbs of time and frequency prefer Position 2.

e.g. Mother is now busy in the kitchen.
He will soon be back.
He never sleeps late.
She is already typing the letter.
He can sometimes be seen in the library.

However, some of time adverbs appear in Position 4.

e.g. He arrived yesterday.
He hasn't called yet.
I haven't heard from him lately.

If any adverbs of time and frequency are found in positions
other than those characteristic of them, it means that these ad-
verbs are intended for special emphasis.

Cf. He usually comes early, (common)
Usually he comes early, (emphatic)
They are never ready in time, (common)
They never are ready in time, (emphatic)

Adverbs of place and direction usually occur in Position 4.

e.g. The young people were enjoying themselves outside.
On Sunday they didn't go anywhere.

Adverbs of manner commonly appear in Position 4, after the
predicate verb.

e.g. They welcomed us warmly.

He explained the problem very simply.
His uncle supported him lavishly.

Some adverbs of manner may occasionally be found in Position 2.

e.g. She knew she had deeply hurt her husband.

The girl bent down and gently scooped the butterfly into the
palm of her hand.

Occasionally adverbs of manner may be found in Position 1. In
that case the adverb does not only modify the predicative verb,
but also the subject.

e.g. Stiffly she began to get out of the car. (= she was stiff when

she began to get out of the car)

Anxiously she watched the butterfly. (= she felt anxious
when she watched the butterfly)

Adverbs of degree (or intensifiers) are usually placed in Posi-
tion 3, before the word they modify.

e.g. I quite forgot her birthday.

He definitely saw me in the corridor.
It was a really stupid thing to do.
I know almost nothing about it.
He came back so soon.

The adverb enough, when it modifies an adjective or an ad-
verb, is placed in post-position to them.

e.g. He is old enough to understand it.
He spoke frankly enough.

However, adverbs of degree (intensifiers), if they modify
verbs, may also be found in Position 4, at the end of the sentence.

e.g. I don't know him well.

He ignored me completely.

Focusing adverbs occupy Position 3 ■— most of them precede
the word they refer to (a) and only some of them follow it imme-
diately (b).

e.g. a) Shall we just exchange the books?

It was only proper that the girl should give up her seat to

an elderly lady.

He also bought a can of raspberry jam.
b) Ann alone knew my secret.

I, too, want a cup of tea.

Viewpoint adverbs are usually found in Position 1 and marked
off by a comma.

e.g. Morally, they have won a victory.

Theoretically, I have no objection to his proposal.
Note. A change in the position of an adverb may bring about a change in its
meaning.

Cf. The expedition was planned scientifically, {an adverb of manner meaning 'us-
ing scientific methods')
Scientifically, the expedition was a success, (a viewpoint adverb meaning 'from

a scientific point of view')
You may answer the question generally, (an adverb of manner meaning 'not in

detail')
You generally answer the questions in too much detail, (an adverb of frequency

meaning 'usually')

Attitudinal adverbs mainly tend to appear in Position 1, at
the head of the sentence (a): they may also occur in Positions 2
and 4 (b).

e.g. a) Perhaps they knew that she was coming today.
Unfortunately, we didn't find him in the office.
Honestly, we knew nothing about it.
b) My brother, unaccountably, had very few friends.

It was possible of course that Meg would deny everything.
I honestly don't remember it.

Conjunctive adverbs may be found in Positions 1, 2 and 4.
e.g. She did not expect her husband to meet her. However, when
the train had stopped, she saw him standing on the plat-
form.
She felt she ought to find a job. She was nevertheless too

tired to do it.

The corridor was full of people anyway. Besides he was too
exhausted to wait.

The Adverb so

§ 8. Note the peculiarities in the use of the adverb so. It is
generally used as an adverb of degree or a conjunctive adverb, but
may also be used to stand for a previous statement. This is found
in the following cases:

1) When so is used to express agreement with a preceding
statement, especially after the verbs to be afraid, to believe, to ex-
pect, to imagine, to hear, to say, to suppose, to tell, to think. (Com-
pare it with the pronoun it when it is used instead of a previous
sentence or clause or phrase. For this see "Pronouns", § 5.)

e.g. "Will he do it?" "I think so." (I expect so. I believe so.)
"Is he ill?" "I'm afraid so."
"Are we on the right road?" "I hope so."
"Why do you say so?"

Disagreement with a previous statement may be expressed in
two ways: by using not after an affirmative verb or by using so
after a negative verb. Only the first way is possible with the
verbs to hope and to be afraid.

e.g. "Can you come and see us tomorrow?" "I'm afraid not."
"Will you have to do it yourself?" "I hope not."

As to the other verbs, both ways are possible with them, the
second being more common, however.

e.g. "Will they ask you to do it?" "I don't think so."

"Are your parents going to stay with you when they come?"
"I don't suppose so."

2) When so expresses agreement and refers to a previous
statement it is also found in the following two patterns:

e.g. a) "It was hot yesterday." "So it was."

"We've all worked well." "So we have."

b) "It's going to rain soon." "If so, what are we going to do?"
"I'm afraid I've lost my purse." "If so, how are you going
to get home?"

3) When so is used with to do to refer to a preceding verb.

e.g. I told him to come and see me the next day, and he did so.
If they want me to help you, I will do so.

4) When so meaning 'also' is used in the following sentence
patterns:

e.g. My wife likes having visitors and so do I.

My brother is fond of pop-music and so is his wife.

The negative counterpart of that is neither.
e.g. I haven't seen him for a long time and neither have they.

The Adverbs already and yet

§ 9. Already is generally found in affirmative sentences,
e.g. They've already left. (They've left already.)

In interrogative sentences it is used with an element of sur-
prise or if one is sure of a yes-answer.

e.g. "Have they left already?" ('Они уже ушли?') "Yes, a minute

ago."

Yet is found in negative sentences and in interrogative sen-
tences when the speaker really does not know the answer.

e.g. They haven't left yet. (They haven't yet left.)
Have they left yet?

The Adverbs still and yet

§ 10. Still may be used in all kinds of sentences with an im-
plication of an action (positive or negative) continuing.

e.g. He is still asleep. ('Он все еще спит.')
Is he still asleep? ('Он все еще спит?')
Не is still not asleep. ('Он все еще не спит.')

Yet may also be used in all kinds of sentences with an im-
plication that an action (positive or negative) has not started yet.

e.g. He is asleep yet. ('Он еще не проснулся.')
Is he asleep yet? ('Он еще не проснулся?')
Не is not asleep yet. ('Он еще не уснул.')

Compare also the following pairs:
Do it while it is still light, ('пока еще светло')
Do it while it is light yet. ('пока еще не стемнело')
Is it still light? ('Все еще светло?')
Is it light yet? ('Еще не стемнело?')
It is still not light. ('Все еще темно.')
It is not light yet. ('Еще не рассвело.')

The Adverbs much, far and long

§ ll. The use of the adverb much is similar to the use of the
indefinite pronoun much: it is mainly found in interrogative and
negative sentences (see also "Pronouns", § 32).

e.g. He doesn't care much what happens to him.
Did he travel much?

The adverbs far, far off, far away and long are also mainly
used in interrogative and negative sentences. Their counterparts
for affirmative sentences are a long way, a long way off, a long
way away and a long time respectively,
e.g. Did you have to walk far?

I've got a long way to go.

I couldn't stay there long.

He talked with us for a long time.

§ 12. Special attention should be paid to a striking point in the
use of English adjectives and adverbs: what a Russian student of
English would expect to find expressed by an adverb modifying the
predicate verb (Cf. Он внимательно оглядел комнату.) is replaced
in English by an adjective modifying a noun in the sentence.

e.g. He gave a careful look round the room. (= He looked round

the room carefully.)

He pays us occasional visits. (= He visits us occasionally.)
His friends shrugged cynical shoulders. («•= His friends shrugged

their shoulders cynically.)

PREPOSITIONS

§ 1. Prepositions are structural words which are used with a
noun (or a noun-equivalent, e.g. a pronoun or an ing-form) to show
its relation to some other word in the sentence (a verb, another
noun, an adjective and occasionally an adverb).

e.g. The face of his visitor was so distasteful to him that he

could scarcely bear to look at it
The stream was very shallow because of the drought but still

it was active, hurrying over the pebbles.
The question, thrown at her so vehemently, took from her

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