Grammar
Adverb order in English sentences
Compare these sentences: The team worked carefully in the studio yesterday. The team worked in the studio yesterday. The first sentence adds how the work happened before it adds place and time.
Put common manner, place, and time adverbs in a natural order, while recognizing when emphasis changes the usual pattern.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
They worked quietly in the library after class. /ðeɪ wɜːkt ˈkwaɪətli ɪn ðə ˈlaɪbrəri ˈɑːftə klɑːs/
The short answer
When manner, place, and time all come after a verb, use manner plus place plus time: They practiced carefully in the hall after lunch. Keep the verb and its object together before these details. Move a time or place phrase when you have a reason to set the scene or emphasize it.
We ate slowly at the café after the film.
Why it works: Slowly says how, at the café says where, and after the film says when.
5 more examples
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The nurse explained the instructions clearly in the waiting room this morning.
Clearly gives the manner, in the waiting room gives the place, and this morning gives the time.
Not this:
This morning, the nurse explained the instructions clearly in the waiting room. What changes: The time phrase moves to the beginning to make the time the first information the listener receives. -
We packed the boxes carefully in the garage on Saturday.
The action and object stay together before the manner, place, and time details.
Not this:We packed
carefullythe boxes in the garage on Saturday. What changes: In ordinary English, carefully normally follows the object the boxes rather than separating it from packed. -
The children played happily in the garden all afternoon.
Happily is manner, in the garden is place, and all afternoon is time.
Not this:
In the garden, the children played happily all afternoon. What changes: The place phrase comes first when the location is useful as the starting point of the message. -
The visitors waited patiently outside the office until noon.
Patiently describes how they waited, outside the office gives the place, and until noon gives the time limit.
Not this:
Until noon, the visitors waited patiently outside the office. What changes: Putting until noon first emphasizes the length of the waiting period. -
Noah carried the equipment carefully to the van after the event.
The equipment is the object and stays with carried. Carefully gives the manner, to the van gives the destination, and after the event gives the time.
Not this:
After the event, Noah carried the equipment carefully to the van. What changes: The opening time phrase establishes the context before the action and its other details.
Read the full guide
Start with the main clause. Put the verb and any object together first: She completed the report. Then add the extra details. If you need to say how, where, and when, add how first, then where, then when. This gives a dependable pattern for ordinary statements.
Build the main clause first
Start with the person or thing, the verb, and the object when there is one. In The team completed the design, completed and the design belong together. Add adverbial details after that complete action. This makes it easier to see where each extra detail belongs.
The team completed the design carefully in the studio yesterday.
The object the design stays next to completed. The later phrases add how, where, and when.
Which part should stay together: completed the design or completed carefully?
Keep completed the design together. Carefully is an extra detail about the action.
Put manner before place and time
A manner adverb says how something happens. If you also give place and time, put manner first. The usual pattern is action plus manner plus place plus time. This order works well in ordinary statements.
Ravi answered the question politely in class yesterday.
Politely is the manner, in class is the place, and yesterday is the time.
Choose the natural order: She sang beautifully at the concert last night, or She sang last night beautifully at the concert?
Use She sang beautifully at the concert last night. Put the manner before the place and time details.
Use an opening time or place phrase
A time or place phrase can come at the beginning when you want to establish the setting before you describe the action. Use a comma after a longer opening phrase. The order inside the main clause can stay the same.
After the meeting, we talked quietly in the hallway.
After the meeting gives the time first. Quietly still comes before the place phrase in the hallway.
At the station, passengers waited patiently for the next train.
At the station gives the location first. Patiently still describes how the passengers waited.
Choose the order that makes your meaning clear
Use manner, place, time as your default when all three details follow the verb. Then ask whether one detail needs emphasis. If the time or place gives important context, move it to the beginning. Each position should help the listener understand the message.
The group worked quietly in the library after class.
This follows the usual order: manner, place, then time.
You want to emphasize the time after class. How can you begin the sentence?
Begin After class, then continue: After class, the group worked quietly in the library.
Repair a crowded sentence
When a sentence has several details, check it in stages. First, find the verb and its object. Next, identify any manner, place, and time phrases. Put the phrases after the action in that order unless an opening time or place phrase gives the context you need. This check helps you repair a sentence without changing its meaning.
Noah carried the equipment carefully to the van after the event.
The object the equipment follows carried. Carefully, to the van, and after the event then give manner, place, and time.
Repair this order: Noah carried carefully the equipment to the van after the event.
Put the object beside the verb: Noah carried the equipment carefully to the van after the event.
Before you go
Remember this
Keep the verb and object together. When you add several details after them, put manner before place and place before time: She worked carefully at home last night. An opening time or place phrase is possible when it helps set the scene or give that detail emphasis. Check that the sentence still makes the action easy to follow.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Adverb order in English sentences"
What is the usual order of adverbs in an English sentence?
When you add manner, place, and time after a verb, a useful usual order is manner, place, then time. For example, We ate slowly at the café after the film. The pattern helps a listener follow the action and each extra detail.
The nurse explained the instructions clearly in the waiting room this morning.
Does manner come before place and time?
Usually, yes. A manner adverb such as carefully, quietly, or quickly normally comes before a place phrase and a time phrase when all of them follow the verb. Say The nurse explained the instructions clearly in the waiting room this morning.
This morning, the nurse explained the instructions clearly in the waiting room.
Where does the object go when a sentence has an adverb?
Keep a verb and its object together in ordinary English, then add the manner, place, and time details. Say We packed the boxes carefully in the garage on Saturday. Avoid placing carefully between packed and the boxes in this kind of sentence.
We packed the boxes carefully in the garage on Saturday.
Can a time phrase come at the beginning of a sentence?
Yes. Put a time phrase first when you want to set the scene or give the time special attention. After lunch, Maya spoke quietly to the manager begins with the time, while the main clause keeps a natural order.
We packed carefully the boxes in the garage on Saturday.
Can a place phrase come at the beginning of a sentence?
Yes. A place phrase can come first when the location gives useful context. In the garden, the children played happily all afternoon begins with the place. The manner and time details still follow the action in the main clause.
The children played happily in the garden all afternoon.