Unit 15: Food fads
Adverb position
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- 1 Pop-ups
- 2 Hidden talents
- 3 Can't buy me love
- 4 Travellers' tales
- 5 The colleague from hell
- 6 Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
- 7 Career changes
- 8 Art
- 9 Project management
- 10 The dog ate my homework!
- 11 The diary of a double agent
- 12 Fashion forward
- 13 Flat pack skyscrapers
- 14 Extreme sports
- 15 Food fads
- 16 Me, my selfie and I
- 17 Endangered animals
- 18 A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19 I'm really sorry...
- 20 Telling stories
- 21 Fakes and phrasals
- 22 Looking to the future
- 23 Becoming familiar with things
- 24 From rags to riches
- 25 Against the odds
- 26 Our future on Mars?
- 27 Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
- 28 Dodgy dating
- 29 Annoying advice
- 30 I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 2
Usually, really, very, well, carefully. Adverbs like these can add colour and details to our speaking and writing. Where can you put them in a sentence? This session looks at the position of adverbs when we use them with different kinds of verbs and auxiliaries.
Activity 1
Now, where did I put that adverb?
Adverbs: a reminder
As we're sure you remember, one thing adverbs do is tell us about verbs. They can tell us about how we do the things that we do. For example, if you ride a bike, how do you ride?
To do
See if you can spot the adverbs in these sentences:
- I always ride carefully.
- I ride as fast as I can.
- I never ride a bike - it's too dangerous.
- I really like to ride slowly.
The adverbs are: always, as fast as I can (adverbs aren't always a single word: they can be phrases too), never, too, really and slowly. Well done if you identified all of those.
Read the text and complete the activity
Where do adverbs go with verbs?
Where we put adverbs in a sentence depends a lot on the kind of adverb, the style and the context. Generally though, there are three positions where it's possible to put an adverb in relation to a verb.
First position: before the subject.
- Carefully he opened the package.
Second position: before the main verb.
- He carefully opened the package.
Third position: after the verb or after the verb and its direct object or clause.
- He opened the package carefully.
What about the verb 'to be'?
When the verb to be is the main verb of a sentence, we usually put adverbs immediately after the verb.
- He’s always on time.
- I was never happy at school.
Where you can't put an adverb
One place you should never put an adverb is between a verb and its direct object:
- He opened carefully the package. (This sentence is not correct.)
Another place we don’t put an adverb is between a verb and a gerund or infinitive with 'to'.
- He started cycling professionally in 2011. (Correct)
- He started professionally cycling in 2011. (Not correct)
- I’d like to sit down again. (Correct)
- I’d like again to sit down. (Not correct)
To do
To see if you've got the idea so far, try the quiz. You just have to look at each sentence and decide if the adverb or adverbs are in the correct place.
Right or wrong
5 Questions
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What's the rule about adverb position and verbs with direct objects?Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
Where do adverbs go with the verb 'to be'?Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
Where do adverbs go with verbs and gerunds?Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What positions can adverbs go in when they are used with verbs?Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What's the rule for adverb position when an infinitive follows a verb?Question 1 of 5
Adverbs in correct place
Adverbs in wrong place
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Right or wrong
5 Questions
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What's the rule about adverb position and verbs with direct objects?Question 1 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
Where do adverbs go with the verb 'to be'?Question 2 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
Where do adverbs go with verbs and gerunds?Question 3 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What positions can adverbs go in when they are used with verbs?Question 4 of 5
Help
Activity
Are the adverbs in the sentence in the right place or wrong place? You decide and drag each one to the appropriate column.
Hint
What's the rule for adverb position when an infinitive follows a verb?Question 5 of 5
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Next
Now you've finished this page, head on to the next activity for more information about adverbs - and another quiz.
Session Grammar
Adverb position with verbs
There are many different kinds of adverbs and many different rules for where they can and can't go.
Generally there are three positions where we put adverbs:
- Before the subject
Slowly he opened the door. - Before the main verb
He slowly opened the door. - After the verb and its direct object or clause
He opened the door slowly.
Where we don't put adverbs
Adverbs don't go:
1. Between a verb and its direct object
I play tennis very well. (Correct)
I play very well tennis. (Not correct)2. Between a verb and a gerund or between a verb follwed by an infinitive with 'to'
He started running quickly when he saw the police. (Correct)
He started quickly running when he saw the police. (Not correct)- Before the subject