Adverb, you must know, is very mobile; different nuances of meaning can be expressed through change of position. Consider the two sentences:
1. Give the book to only Kelvin.
2. Give only the book to Kelvin.
While number 1 says Kelvin and no other person, number 2 says the book only and no other book.
Now, since more than one adverb is allowed in a sentence, it's therefore necessary to understand the order they should be in. First off, in the adverb order, you must know that except for frequency adverbs and special adverbs, (only, just, etc.) the normal position of adverb is at the end of a sentence and should be in the order of Manner (1), Place (2) and Time (3). Ex.: He addressed us humbly at the conference this morning. You should be careful not to be separating the object from its subject using an adverb (he brushed very well his teeth) like students who speak Slavonic languages and Latin do. This is ungrammatical.
Secondly, with a movement verb, the adverb of place notionally acts like an object and comes immediately after the verb. Ex.: I travelled to Kenya by land.
Although the position of adverb is at the end of a sentence, time adverb usually occurs at the very beginning of a sentence. When a time adverb is used like this, it's slightly emphatic. This usually happens when there are more adverbs in a sentence. Also, the more particular of time should come before the more general, as in: he was born at 12pm, on June 14th, in the year 1994. The safe rule of thumb is simply that time adverb may occur at either end of a sentence, i.e., beginning/end but never in the middle. See the examples below.
1. Yesterday, he was the Master of Ceremony at the dinner party held in the town hall.
2. He was the Master of Ceremony at the dinner party held in the town hall yesterday.
Finally, try the following questions using the rules and go for adverb order 2 on Lingual Command. After answering, check your answers validity by seeking the help of a teacher of English or a native English speaker.
Questions:
- He walked (briskly, to school).
- He loved her (fiercely, all his life).
- I saw my friend off (at 10am, at the post office, this morning)
- They all talked (briefly, this morning, at home).