Adverb of Manner

(e.g.: slowly, carefully, awfully) These adverbs are put behind the direct object (or behind the verb if there's no direct object).

subject

verb(s)

direct object

adverb

He

drove

the car

carefully.

He

drove

carefully.

Exercise on adverbs of manner

Adverbs of Place
(e.g.: here, there, behind, above) Like adverbs of manner, these adverbs are put behind the direct object or the verb.

subject

verb(s)

direct object

adverb

didn't see

him

here.

He

stayed

behind.

Exercise on adverbs of place

Adverbs of Time
(e.g.: recently, now, then, yesterday) Adverbs of time are usually put at the end of the sentence.

subject

verb(s)

indirect object

direct object

time

will tell

you

the story

tomorrow.

If you don't want to put emphasis on the time, you can also put the adverb of time at the beginning of the sentence.

time

subject

verb(s)

indirect object

direct object

Tomorrow I

will tell

you

the story.

Exercise on adverbs of time

Adverbs of Frequency
(e.g.: always, never, seldom, usually) Adverbs of frequency are put directly before the main verb. If 'be' is the main verb and there is no auxiliary verb, adverbs of frequency are put behind 'be'. Is there an auxiliary verb, however, adverbs of frequency are put before 'be'.

subject

auxiliary/be

adverb

main verb

object, place or time

often

go swimming

in the evenings.

He

doesn't

always

play

tennis.

We

are

usually

here in summer.

have

never

been

abroad.

Rewrite the sentences and put the adverbs in correctly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. I have been to London. (often)
I have often been

Have you been to Boston? (ever) He plays golf on Sundays. (sometimes) The weather is bad in November. (always) It rains in California. (never) We have fish for dinner. (seldom) She will see him. (rarely) Peter doesn't get up before seven. (usually) They do not play tennis on Sundays. (always) Mary watches TV. (hardly / ever)

Exercises on English Word Order

Adverbs Mix
Rewrite the sentences and put the adverbs in correctly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. We were in London. (last week) He walks his dog. (rarely) She waited. (patiently) My father goes fishing. (always) Your bedroom is. (upstairs) We don't go skiing. (in summer) Cats can hear. (well) I saw him. (there) The girl speaks English. (fluently) I have seen that film. (never) / (before)
We w ere in Lond

WORD ORDER in declarative statements

Word order is very important in English; but it is not complicated, and can be reduced to a few basic rules or principles.

 1.1 In a normal (declarative) sentence, the subject of a sentence comes directly in front of the verb. The direct object (when there is one) comes directly after it: Examples: The man wrote a letter. People who live in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones. The president laughed. 1.2. Note that by the subject, we mean not just a single word, but the subject noun or pronoun plus descriptive phrases that go with it. The rest of the sentence - i.e. the part that is not the subject - is called the predicate. Example:People who live in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones. 1.3. If a sentence has any other parts to it - indirect objects, adverbs or adverb phrases - these usually come in the following places: 1.3.1 The position of the indirect object The indirect object follows the direct object when it is formed with the preposition to: The indirect object comes in front of the direct object if to is omitted Example: The doctor gave some medicine to the child. or: The doctor gave the child some medicine. 1.3.2. Adverbs or adverb phrases can come in three possible places: - Before the subject (Notably with common adverbs or adverb phrases) Example: Yesterday the man wrote a letter. - After the object (Virtually any adverb or adverb phrase can be placed here) Example: The man wrote a letter on his computer in the train. - In the middle of the verb group. (Notably with short common adverbs) Example The manhas already written his letter 1.4 In standard English, nothing usually comes between the subject and the verb, or between the verb and the object. There are a few exceptions. The most important of these are adverbs of frequency and indirect objects without to. Example: The man often wrote his mother a letter. I sometimes give my dog a bone. If you always apply these few simple rules, you will not make too many word order problems in English. The examples above are deliberately

simple - but the rules can be applied even to complex sentences, with subordinate and coordinated clauses. The director, [who often told his staff (to work harder),] never left the office before [he had checked his e-mail.] 2 Exceptions Of course, there are exceptions to many rules, and writers and speakers sometimes use different or unusual word order for special effects. But if we concentrate on the exceptions, we may forget the main principles, and the question of word order may start to seem very complex! So here are just a few examples: you should realise that they exist, but not try to use them unless either they are essential in the context, or else you have fully mastered normal word order patterns. (Don't try to run before you can walk!) A few examples: - Never before had I seen such a magnificent exhibition. (After never or never before, subject and verb can be - and usually are inverted). - Hardly had I left the house, than it started to rain. (When a sentence starts with hardly, subject and verb must be inverted.). - Had I known, I'd never have gone there. (Inversion occurs in unfulfilled hypothetical conditional structures when if is omitted.. See the page on conditional clauses for more details) - The book that you gave me I'd read already. (The long object, The book that you gave me, is placed at the start of the sentence for reasons of style: this unusual sentence structure is not necessary, just stylistic).

How to build correctly ordered questions in English

WORD ORDER in QUESTIONS
1. Word order in English questions:
This really is so simple.... Almost all questions use the same structure. All you need to do is to remember this simple and common English phrase:

How do you do?

The structure of almost every simple question in English is based on this same model: (Question word if there is one) - Auxiliary or modal - subject - main verb - (plus the rest of the sentence): Important: take care ! In the interrogative, as in the negative, English verbs are ALWAYS made up of at least two elements, an auxiliary and the root verb. In the interrogative there is only one exception to this rule, and that is certain tenses of the verb to be. For all other verbs - including to have - tenses that are formed with a single verb in an affirmative statement (i.e. the present simple and the simple past) are formed in the interrogative by the addition of the auxiliary do. Examples Where did Jane Austen live? Did Arnold Schwarzenegger learn English quickly? How quickly did Arnold Schwarzenegger learn English ? Has the bank sent us an invoice yet? How many books have you read this year ? Is the new secretary being given her own laptop ? Can the new secretary be given her own laptop ? How quickly can the new secretary be given her own laptop ? Is the new secretary nice ? Comparison between statements and questions with single-word tenses : He had a good time. > Did he have a good time? NOT Had he a good time? He lives in new York. > Does he live in new York? NOT Lives he in New York? Exceptions: Certain adverbs, notably short adverbs of frequency or time, can and indeed sometimes must be placed between the auxiliary and the root verb, as in statements. In questions, these adverbs are placed between the subject and the root verb. Has that French company yet sent us their order ? Can the new secretary soon be given a bigger desk ? What sort of hats do the ladies usually wear?