Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?Can't adjuncts be placed between verbs and their direct...

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Placing an adverb between a verb and an object?


Can't adjuncts be placed between verbs and their direct objects?What do you think about the position of adverb in this sentence?Placing of “be” vis-a-vis a “…ly” adverb in a sentencePosition of Adverbpossible for adverb to modify adverb before it?Placing 'supposedly' in a sentenceHow the position of adverb affect the meaning of a sentenceWhat is the correct placement of an adverb of degree/manner with an auxiliary verb and a main verb?“function models ONLY two variables at a time” vs. “function ONLY models two variables at a time” - place the adverb correctlyDifference between so called and called so













5















The rule: "We don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" (Cambridge Dictionary)



But some sentences confuse me :




1-He drew only a rabbit. (All he drew was a rabbit but he might have done other things while drawing like listening to music)



2-He read only the end of the book. (All he read was the end of the book)




1'-He only drew a rabbit. (All he did was drawing a rabbit)



2'-He only read the end of the book. (All he did was reading the end of the book)





I think (1 and 1') + (2 and 2') are not the same. So are (1 and 2) grammatically correct ? That means rule is not always true ?










share|improve this question




















  • 1





    In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

    – hguler
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Yeah thank you.

    – Talha Özden
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

    – Robusto
    10 hours ago











  • Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago











  • @tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

    – Talha Özden
    34 mins ago


















5















The rule: "We don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" (Cambridge Dictionary)



But some sentences confuse me :




1-He drew only a rabbit. (All he drew was a rabbit but he might have done other things while drawing like listening to music)



2-He read only the end of the book. (All he read was the end of the book)




1'-He only drew a rabbit. (All he did was drawing a rabbit)



2'-He only read the end of the book. (All he did was reading the end of the book)





I think (1 and 1') + (2 and 2') are not the same. So are (1 and 2) grammatically correct ? That means rule is not always true ?










share|improve this question




















  • 1





    In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

    – hguler
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Yeah thank you.

    – Talha Özden
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

    – Robusto
    10 hours ago











  • Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago











  • @tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

    – Talha Özden
    34 mins ago
















5












5








5


3






The rule: "We don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" (Cambridge Dictionary)



But some sentences confuse me :




1-He drew only a rabbit. (All he drew was a rabbit but he might have done other things while drawing like listening to music)



2-He read only the end of the book. (All he read was the end of the book)




1'-He only drew a rabbit. (All he did was drawing a rabbit)



2'-He only read the end of the book. (All he did was reading the end of the book)





I think (1 and 1') + (2 and 2') are not the same. So are (1 and 2) grammatically correct ? That means rule is not always true ?










share|improve this question
















The rule: "We don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" (Cambridge Dictionary)



But some sentences confuse me :




1-He drew only a rabbit. (All he drew was a rabbit but he might have done other things while drawing like listening to music)



2-He read only the end of the book. (All he read was the end of the book)




1'-He only drew a rabbit. (All he did was drawing a rabbit)



2'-He only read the end of the book. (All he did was reading the end of the book)





I think (1 and 1') + (2 and 2') are not the same. So are (1 and 2) grammatically correct ? That means rule is not always true ?







adverb-placement






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 10 hours ago







Talha Özden

















asked 11 hours ago









Talha ÖzdenTalha Özden

15616




15616








  • 1





    In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

    – hguler
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Yeah thank you.

    – Talha Özden
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

    – Robusto
    10 hours ago











  • Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago











  • @tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

    – Talha Özden
    34 mins ago
















  • 1





    In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

    – hguler
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Yeah thank you.

    – Talha Özden
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

    – Robusto
    10 hours ago











  • Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago











  • @tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

    – Talha Özden
    34 mins ago










1




1





In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

– hguler
10 hours ago





In 1' and 2', you've written "only" twice. I think you forgot to delete the second instance in each case.

– hguler
10 hours ago




1




1





Yeah thank you.

– Talha Özden
10 hours ago





Yeah thank you.

– Talha Özden
10 hours ago




1




1





Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

– Robusto
10 hours ago





Related on our sister site: Correct position of "only".

– Robusto
10 hours ago













Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

– tchrist
5 hours ago





Those are not adverbs modifying the nouns rabbit or end: those are adjectives.

– tchrist
5 hours ago













@tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

– Talha Özden
34 mins ago







@tchrist I dont think so, those must be adverbs according to dictionary(Cambridge) : We use only as an "adjective" to mean that there is just one or very few of something, or that there are no others: He was "the only person" in the room. We use only as an "adverb" to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: "Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage."

– Talha Özden
34 mins ago












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















6














To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.



Because this is an uncommon placement, When done properly, it can sound dramatic.




They flung wide the doors of the hall, letting sunlight stream into every dark corner.




Done poorly, or in an odd context, it just sounds awkward, e.g. "She ate greedily the cake."



In the future, if you see this kind of sentence structure (and you trust the writer is doing it on purpose) take note of the context, and recognize that the sentence might feel different from the usual phrasing.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    "wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

    – Acccumulation
    8 hours ago











  • @Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

    – Andrew
    7 hours ago











  • You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

    – CJ Dennis
    6 hours ago



















4














[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]



"Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" is more general advice, probably particularly useful for English language learners, rather than a hard and fast rule.



It definitely is possible to put an adverb between the verb and the object, and often it will sound just fine to an English-speaking ear.




I sang loudly to the audience.



She ran quickly to the bus stop.




The two examples you cite sound fine to me, even if placing the adverb before the verb would sound more 'normal'.



However, it depends on the words being used. As @Andrew says in his answer, it can even be a deliberate choice for literary effect.



As to why some phrases sound complete bizarre, and others sound perfectly ok, I am really not sure.



Eg:




He played brilliantly the piano




sounds completely wrong and would never be said by a native speaker.



Somebody else might be able to explain why.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

    – hguler
    10 hours ago











  • You're right. That seems to be correct.

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

    – Sydney
    10 hours ago











  • It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    @fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago





















3














The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.



Note, however, that there isn't necessarily a difference in meaning between 1 and 1' and between 2 and 2'. Drawing a rabbit is a little unusual, so let's take the example of eating an apple. "I only ate an apple" means "I ate an apple and nothing else." In contrast, "I ate only an apple" is correct but slightly awkward. In spoken English, you could put an emphasis on the word "ate" to indicate that "only" is modifying "apple" and not "ate", as in:




I only ate an apple.




but in written English (and in spoken English when the word "ate" is not emphasized),




I only ate an apple.




means you ate an apple and nothing else.



If you want to say that you did nothing more than eat an apple, "I merely ate an apple", or "I did nothing more than eat an apple," or, as you suggested, "All I did was eat an apple," would be better ways to indicate that. (The last way is the most natural.)






share|improve this answer










New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1





    Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago













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3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes








3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









6














To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.



Because this is an uncommon placement, When done properly, it can sound dramatic.




They flung wide the doors of the hall, letting sunlight stream into every dark corner.




Done poorly, or in an odd context, it just sounds awkward, e.g. "She ate greedily the cake."



In the future, if you see this kind of sentence structure (and you trust the writer is doing it on purpose) take note of the context, and recognize that the sentence might feel different from the usual phrasing.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    "wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

    – Acccumulation
    8 hours ago











  • @Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

    – Andrew
    7 hours ago











  • You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

    – CJ Dennis
    6 hours ago
















6














To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.



Because this is an uncommon placement, When done properly, it can sound dramatic.




They flung wide the doors of the hall, letting sunlight stream into every dark corner.




Done poorly, or in an odd context, it just sounds awkward, e.g. "She ate greedily the cake."



In the future, if you see this kind of sentence structure (and you trust the writer is doing it on purpose) take note of the context, and recognize that the sentence might feel different from the usual phrasing.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    "wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

    – Acccumulation
    8 hours ago











  • @Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

    – Andrew
    7 hours ago











  • You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

    – CJ Dennis
    6 hours ago














6












6








6







To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.



Because this is an uncommon placement, When done properly, it can sound dramatic.




They flung wide the doors of the hall, letting sunlight stream into every dark corner.




Done poorly, or in an odd context, it just sounds awkward, e.g. "She ate greedily the cake."



In the future, if you see this kind of sentence structure (and you trust the writer is doing it on purpose) take note of the context, and recognize that the sentence might feel different from the usual phrasing.






share|improve this answer













To paraphrase "Pirates of the Caribbean", think of this more as a guideline than an actual rule. With creative writing, it is often possible to place the adverb anywhere it sounds good.



Because this is an uncommon placement, When done properly, it can sound dramatic.




They flung wide the doors of the hall, letting sunlight stream into every dark corner.




Done poorly, or in an odd context, it just sounds awkward, e.g. "She ate greedily the cake."



In the future, if you see this kind of sentence structure (and you trust the writer is doing it on purpose) take note of the context, and recognize that the sentence might feel different from the usual phrasing.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 10 hours ago









AndrewAndrew

69.1k678153




69.1k678153








  • 1





    "wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

    – Acccumulation
    8 hours ago











  • @Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

    – Andrew
    7 hours ago











  • You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

    – CJ Dennis
    6 hours ago














  • 1





    "wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

    – Acccumulation
    8 hours ago











  • @Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

    – Andrew
    7 hours ago











  • You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

    – CJ Dennis
    6 hours ago








1




1





"wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

– Acccumulation
8 hours ago





"wide" is not an adverb. It's an adjective. It describes the state of the object after the verb was performed, much like "The drill instructor ran the recruits ragged" or "They arrived late".

– Acccumulation
8 hours ago













@Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

– Andrew
7 hours ago





@Acccumulation You may be right, but my example sentence seems much in line with Oxford adverb definition 1, "To the fullest extent" which would seem to modify "flung" not "doors". But I could always use a different example of the same thing, e.g. "She opened wide her eyes and gazed at the radiant vista before her."

– Andrew
7 hours ago













You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

– CJ Dennis
6 hours ago





You wouldn't say "They wide flung the doors". "wide" doesn't seem to be an adverb here. You could say "They flung the doors wide". In each example sentence "wide" has the sense of "open", and Oxford doesn't say "open" can be an adverb. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/open

– CJ Dennis
6 hours ago













4














[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]



"Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" is more general advice, probably particularly useful for English language learners, rather than a hard and fast rule.



It definitely is possible to put an adverb between the verb and the object, and often it will sound just fine to an English-speaking ear.




I sang loudly to the audience.



She ran quickly to the bus stop.




The two examples you cite sound fine to me, even if placing the adverb before the verb would sound more 'normal'.



However, it depends on the words being used. As @Andrew says in his answer, it can even be a deliberate choice for literary effect.



As to why some phrases sound complete bizarre, and others sound perfectly ok, I am really not sure.



Eg:




He played brilliantly the piano




sounds completely wrong and would never be said by a native speaker.



Somebody else might be able to explain why.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

    – hguler
    10 hours ago











  • You're right. That seems to be correct.

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

    – Sydney
    10 hours ago











  • It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    @fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago


















4














[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]



"Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" is more general advice, probably particularly useful for English language learners, rather than a hard and fast rule.



It definitely is possible to put an adverb between the verb and the object, and often it will sound just fine to an English-speaking ear.




I sang loudly to the audience.



She ran quickly to the bus stop.




The two examples you cite sound fine to me, even if placing the adverb before the verb would sound more 'normal'.



However, it depends on the words being used. As @Andrew says in his answer, it can even be a deliberate choice for literary effect.



As to why some phrases sound complete bizarre, and others sound perfectly ok, I am really not sure.



Eg:




He played brilliantly the piano




sounds completely wrong and would never be said by a native speaker.



Somebody else might be able to explain why.






share|improve this answer



















  • 1





    Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

    – hguler
    10 hours ago











  • You're right. That seems to be correct.

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

    – Sydney
    10 hours ago











  • It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    @fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago
















4












4








4







[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]



"Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" is more general advice, probably particularly useful for English language learners, rather than a hard and fast rule.



It definitely is possible to put an adverb between the verb and the object, and often it will sound just fine to an English-speaking ear.




I sang loudly to the audience.



She ran quickly to the bus stop.




The two examples you cite sound fine to me, even if placing the adverb before the verb would sound more 'normal'.



However, it depends on the words being used. As @Andrew says in his answer, it can even be a deliberate choice for literary effect.



As to why some phrases sound complete bizarre, and others sound perfectly ok, I am really not sure.



Eg:




He played brilliantly the piano




sounds completely wrong and would never be said by a native speaker.



Somebody else might be able to explain why.






share|improve this answer













[I had already written most of this before @Andrew posted his answer. It says pretty much the same thing, but I thought I might as well post it, having written it.]



"Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object" is more general advice, probably particularly useful for English language learners, rather than a hard and fast rule.



It definitely is possible to put an adverb between the verb and the object, and often it will sound just fine to an English-speaking ear.




I sang loudly to the audience.



She ran quickly to the bus stop.




The two examples you cite sound fine to me, even if placing the adverb before the verb would sound more 'normal'.



However, it depends on the words being used. As @Andrew says in his answer, it can even be a deliberate choice for literary effect.



As to why some phrases sound complete bizarre, and others sound perfectly ok, I am really not sure.



Eg:




He played brilliantly the piano




sounds completely wrong and would never be said by a native speaker.



Somebody else might be able to explain why.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 10 hours ago









fred2fred2

1,865613




1,865613








  • 1





    Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

    – hguler
    10 hours ago











  • You're right. That seems to be correct.

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

    – Sydney
    10 hours ago











  • It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    @fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago
















  • 1





    Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

    – hguler
    10 hours ago











  • You're right. That seems to be correct.

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

    – Sydney
    10 hours ago











  • It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

    – fred2
    10 hours ago






  • 1





    @fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago










1




1





Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

– hguler
10 hours ago





Could it be because your first two examples have an indirect object, whereas the last one has a direct object? Perhaps the preposition "to" makes the object "long and complicated," so that putting the adverb before the object becomes acceptable. Note that "I sang loudly the song" and "She ran slowly the marathon" are no better than "He played brilliantly the piano."

– hguler
10 hours ago













You're right. That seems to be correct.

– fred2
10 hours ago





You're right. That seems to be correct.

– fred2
10 hours ago




1




1





'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

– Sydney
10 hours ago





'to the audience' and 'to the bus stop' are not objects at all, but prepositional phrases acting as an adjunct, so adverbs can be used before them relatively freely. Adverbs of manner (which usually end -ly) can rarely be used before a direct object (He played brilliantly the piano). 'They flung wide/open the doors' sounds acceptable partly because we would never say 'They flung the doors' (I'm not sure why),

– Sydney
10 hours ago













It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

– fred2
10 hours ago





It's still an object, isn't it? It just so happens that the object is a prepositional phrase? You are quite right that that's why it sounds ok, but it only goes to show that, as 'rules' go, this one is pretty useless. "Don’t put adverbs between the verb and the object, unless the object is a prepositional phrase, or one of a number of other exceptions, or it's a long and complicated sentence".

– fred2
10 hours ago




1




1





@fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

– tchrist
5 hours ago







@fred2 Prepositional phrases are not core arguments to the verb as direct and indirect objects are. They are usually only adjuncts but sometimes are oblique arguments. Core and oblique arguments are subject to different syntactic rules. There are rules about what can fall between the verb and its arguments, and these work differently than with adjuncts. Nothing can ever fall between V and IO, and between IO and DO only at peril of throwing the baby out the window a new toy.

– tchrist
5 hours ago













3














The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.



Note, however, that there isn't necessarily a difference in meaning between 1 and 1' and between 2 and 2'. Drawing a rabbit is a little unusual, so let's take the example of eating an apple. "I only ate an apple" means "I ate an apple and nothing else." In contrast, "I ate only an apple" is correct but slightly awkward. In spoken English, you could put an emphasis on the word "ate" to indicate that "only" is modifying "apple" and not "ate", as in:




I only ate an apple.




but in written English (and in spoken English when the word "ate" is not emphasized),




I only ate an apple.




means you ate an apple and nothing else.



If you want to say that you did nothing more than eat an apple, "I merely ate an apple", or "I did nothing more than eat an apple," or, as you suggested, "All I did was eat an apple," would be better ways to indicate that. (The last way is the most natural.)






share|improve this answer










New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1





    Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago


















3














The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.



Note, however, that there isn't necessarily a difference in meaning between 1 and 1' and between 2 and 2'. Drawing a rabbit is a little unusual, so let's take the example of eating an apple. "I only ate an apple" means "I ate an apple and nothing else." In contrast, "I ate only an apple" is correct but slightly awkward. In spoken English, you could put an emphasis on the word "ate" to indicate that "only" is modifying "apple" and not "ate", as in:




I only ate an apple.




but in written English (and in spoken English when the word "ate" is not emphasized),




I only ate an apple.




means you ate an apple and nothing else.



If you want to say that you did nothing more than eat an apple, "I merely ate an apple", or "I did nothing more than eat an apple," or, as you suggested, "All I did was eat an apple," would be better ways to indicate that. (The last way is the most natural.)






share|improve this answer










New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1





    Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago
















3












3








3







The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.



Note, however, that there isn't necessarily a difference in meaning between 1 and 1' and between 2 and 2'. Drawing a rabbit is a little unusual, so let's take the example of eating an apple. "I only ate an apple" means "I ate an apple and nothing else." In contrast, "I ate only an apple" is correct but slightly awkward. In spoken English, you could put an emphasis on the word "ate" to indicate that "only" is modifying "apple" and not "ate", as in:




I only ate an apple.




but in written English (and in spoken English when the word "ate" is not emphasized),




I only ate an apple.




means you ate an apple and nothing else.



If you want to say that you did nothing more than eat an apple, "I merely ate an apple", or "I did nothing more than eat an apple," or, as you suggested, "All I did was eat an apple," would be better ways to indicate that. (The last way is the most natural.)






share|improve this answer










New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.










The rule you've quoted is not always followed. See this discussion, in which it is pointed out that the adverb can go between the verb and the object when the object is long or complicated.



Note, however, that there isn't necessarily a difference in meaning between 1 and 1' and between 2 and 2'. Drawing a rabbit is a little unusual, so let's take the example of eating an apple. "I only ate an apple" means "I ate an apple and nothing else." In contrast, "I ate only an apple" is correct but slightly awkward. In spoken English, you could put an emphasis on the word "ate" to indicate that "only" is modifying "apple" and not "ate", as in:




I only ate an apple.




but in written English (and in spoken English when the word "ate" is not emphasized),




I only ate an apple.




means you ate an apple and nothing else.



If you want to say that you did nothing more than eat an apple, "I merely ate an apple", or "I did nothing more than eat an apple," or, as you suggested, "All I did was eat an apple," would be better ways to indicate that. (The last way is the most natural.)







share|improve this answer










New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 10 hours ago





















New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









answered 10 hours ago









hgulerhguler

3264




3264




New contributor




hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






hguler is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1





    Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago
















  • 1





    Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

    – tchrist
    5 hours ago










1




1





Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

– tchrist
5 hours ago







Note that in “I ate only an apple”, the word only is an adjective, not an adverb. Nonetheless there are analyses under which only is classed as a focuser in both cases.

– tchrist
5 hours ago




















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