Types of adverbs and their position in a sentence

In this English grammar lesson by Niharika you will learn how types of adverbs are placed in a  sentence. So what are adverbs? Adverbs tell us How, when, where something is done or performed, in other words it tells us more about verbs. In this English grammar lesson we will look at how to place adverbs  in the start, middle and at the end of a sentence.

Start of a sentence (Initial position)

The adverbs used at the beginning of the sentence are connecting adverbs and time adverbs.

• Life is hard. However, life can be fun. (In this sentence the adverb ‘however’ is connecting two phrases. It’s a connecting adverb)

Some of the connect adverbs are – However, next, Still, consequently…)

• Tomorrow I will visit my mom. ( in this sentence ‘Tomorrow’ is a time adverb and is telling us when you will visit your mom)

Adverbs in middle position of a sentence.

The adverbs that are placed in the middle of a sentence are called ‘focusing adverbs’. They are generally used to modify the second part of a sentence. The adverbs which fall in the middle of a sentence are mostly – adverbs of frequency , adverbs of certainty and adverbs of comment.

• She never forgets to call her sister. (In this sentence the adverb ‘never’ is used as an adverb of frequency)
• I’ll certainly buy a copy of this book. ( In this sentence the adverb ‘certainly’ is the adverb of certainty)
• At the conference she intelligently answered all her critics. ( In this sentence ‘intelligently ‘ is the adverb of comment)

Adverbs at the end of a sentence

The adverbs that are usually placed at the end of a sentence are – Adverbs of manner, Adverbs of place and Adverbs of time

• John does his homework carefully. ( In this sentence ‘carefully’ is the adverb of manner)
• I’m working in the garden outside. ( In this sentence ‘outside’ is the adverb of place)
• Frank likes relaxing at home on weekends. ( In this sentence ‘weekends’ is the adverb of time)

We hope this English grammar lesson has helped you to learn how to place different types of adverbs at various positions in a sentence. Keep practicing and keep learning English.