Position - adverbs of place
1) THE USUAL POSITIONS
These adverbs normally come after the verb, verb + object, or verb + preposition + object:
- She worked abroad for a year. (after the verb)
- Put your toys away. (after verb + object)
- They looked for her everywhere. (after verb + preposition + object)
* There are phrasal verbs, however, which consist of a verb and an adverb (such as pick up, put down, clean out etc.). The object can be placed either after the phrasal verb or between the verb and the adverb:
- She picked up the pen. or She picked the pen up.
* Although not explicitly said in the Thomson-Martinet grammar, the length of object again would normally affect the position of the adverbs of place too. This is because the adverb usually modifies the verb it follows so if the object is a clause it may wrongly modify the verb in that clause instead of the main verb. For example:
- She looked everywhere for the dress she saw in her favourite movie. (She is going to many shops to find it.)
- She looked for the dress she saw in her favourite movie everywhere. (She saw the dress in the movie everywhere or she looked for it everywhere?)
* Adverbials, formed of preposition + noun/pronoun/adverb follow the same rules as any adverb of place:
- The books are on the desk.
- They sat next to me.
- He lives near here.
2) SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE, NOWHERE
* Somewhere and anywhere are used in the same way as some and any. This means that somewhere is normally used in the affirmative or in questions when we expect a positive answer:
- I've seen him somewhere.
- Are you going somewhere? (I see you putting on your shoes.)
On the other hand, anywhere is used in ordinary questions (we do not expect any particular answer) and in the negative:
- Are you going anywhere? (e. g. for the |New Year's Eve)
- No, I cannot go anywhere.
However, it can be used in the affirmative sometimes:
- Put the box down anywhere.
- An accident can happen anywhere.
* Nowhere is not usually place after the verb (or object if there is any) except for the expression to get nowhere:
- Talking to him will get you nowhere. (You will not achieve anything with it.)
It can be used in short answers though and at the beginning of the sentence when it is followed by an inversion (verb + subject):
- Where are you going this weekend? - Nowhere. (short answer)
- Nowhere is the effect of the government policy more apparent than in agriculture. (nowhere + inversion)
3) HERE and THERE
Here/there can be followed by be/come/go + noun subject:
- Here comes the bride. (verb + subject is called an inversion; normal word order is sub. + verb + ob.)
- There goes our bus.
- There's Helen.
- Here's the money I promised you.
If the subject is a personal pronoun then be/come/go are placed after the pronoun (there is no inversion):
- Here she is.
- I cannot find my keys. Oh, here they are.
- There he comes.
These constructions carry more stress than those with here/there after the verb. There is also a difference in meaning:
- Our bus goes there. (It drives its passengers to that place.)
- There goes our bus. (We see it just leaving. We are drawing someone's attention to that fact.)
- He comes there. (He visits that place.)
- There he comes. (He is just arriving. )
* Someone and something, although pronouns themselves, follow the verb (like noun subjects do):
There's someone who can help you.
stressed there: I have just seen the person who can help you. The person has just appeared.
unstressed there: There exists a person who can help you.
Here in phone conversations:
When introducing yourself on phone you can say : George here.
You do not sayGeorge is here.
This way of introducing on phone is the most informal and you would normally use it when talking to your close friends or family. Slightly more formal is This is George, while I am George Barker is the most formal way.
4) ADVERB/ADVERBIAL OF PLACE + INVERSION
Apart from the inversion which is possible in the above explained here/there constructions, there is also a possibility of inversion (verb + subject) after an adverb or adverbial of place.
* An adverb of place (from verb+ adverb combinations: away, down, off..) can be followed by a verb of motion:
- Away went the runners.
- Down fell the apples.
- Round and round flew the plane.
If the subject is a pronoun it comes before the verb:
- Away they went.
- Down they fell.
- Round and round it flew.
The inversion does not change the meaning but adds more drama to the expression. It is useful for literary purposes.
* An adverbial of place (normally introduced with a preposition) can be followed by verbs of motion too, verbs indicating position or be born, die and live (sometimes some other verbs too):
- By the fire lay the cat fast asleep. (Lying by the fire was the cat fast asleep.)
- On the hill stood a castle. (Standing on the hil was a castle.)
- Over the gate hung children. (Hanging over the gate were children.)
- Over the wall came a shower of songs. (cannot be transformed or it will mean that the shower lasted for some time)
* Some of the examples I liked best from Thomson-Martinet's grammar I have used here myself while others were taken from the Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary and a few are my own.
These adverbs normally come after the verb, verb + object, or verb + preposition + object:
- She worked abroad for a year. (after the verb)
- Put your toys away. (after verb + object)
- They looked for her everywhere. (after verb + preposition + object)
* There are phrasal verbs, however, which consist of a verb and an adverb (such as pick up, put down, clean out etc.). The object can be placed either after the phrasal verb or between the verb and the adverb:
- She picked up the pen. or She picked the pen up.
* Although not explicitly said in the Thomson-Martinet grammar, the length of object again would normally affect the position of the adverbs of place too. This is because the adverb usually modifies the verb it follows so if the object is a clause it may wrongly modify the verb in that clause instead of the main verb. For example:
- She looked everywhere for the dress she saw in her favourite movie. (She is going to many shops to find it.)
- She looked for the dress she saw in her favourite movie everywhere. (She saw the dress in the movie everywhere or she looked for it everywhere?)
* Adverbials, formed of preposition + noun/pronoun/adverb follow the same rules as any adverb of place:
- The books are on the desk.
- They sat next to me.
- He lives near here.
2) SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE, NOWHERE
* Somewhere and anywhere are used in the same way as some and any. This means that somewhere is normally used in the affirmative or in questions when we expect a positive answer:
- I've seen him somewhere.
- Are you going somewhere? (I see you putting on your shoes.)
On the other hand, anywhere is used in ordinary questions (we do not expect any particular answer) and in the negative:
- Are you going anywhere? (e. g. for the |New Year's Eve)
- No, I cannot go anywhere.
However, it can be used in the affirmative sometimes:
- Put the box down anywhere.
- An accident can happen anywhere.
* Nowhere is not usually place after the verb (or object if there is any) except for the expression to get nowhere:
- Talking to him will get you nowhere. (You will not achieve anything with it.)
It can be used in short answers though and at the beginning of the sentence when it is followed by an inversion (verb + subject):
- Where are you going this weekend? - Nowhere. (short answer)
- Nowhere is the effect of the government policy more apparent than in agriculture. (nowhere + inversion)
3) HERE and THERE
Here/there can be followed by be/come/go + noun subject:
- Here comes the bride. (verb + subject is called an inversion; normal word order is sub. + verb + ob.)
- There goes our bus.
- There's Helen.
- Here's the money I promised you.
If the subject is a personal pronoun then be/come/go are placed after the pronoun (there is no inversion):
- Here she is.
- I cannot find my keys. Oh, here they are.
- There he comes.
These constructions carry more stress than those with here/there after the verb. There is also a difference in meaning:
- Our bus goes there. (It drives its passengers to that place.)
- There goes our bus. (We see it just leaving. We are drawing someone's attention to that fact.)
- He comes there. (He visits that place.)
- There he comes. (He is just arriving. )
* Someone and something, although pronouns themselves, follow the verb (like noun subjects do):
There's someone who can help you.
stressed there: I have just seen the person who can help you. The person has just appeared.
unstressed there: There exists a person who can help you.
Here in phone conversations:
When introducing yourself on phone you can say : George here.
You do not say
This way of introducing on phone is the most informal and you would normally use it when talking to your close friends or family. Slightly more formal is This is George, while I am George Barker is the most formal way.
4) ADVERB/ADVERBIAL OF PLACE + INVERSION
Apart from the inversion which is possible in the above explained here/there constructions, there is also a possibility of inversion (verb + subject) after an adverb or adverbial of place.
* An adverb of place (from verb+ adverb combinations: away, down, off..) can be followed by a verb of motion:
- Away went the runners.
- Down fell the apples.
- Round and round flew the plane.
If the subject is a pronoun it comes before the verb:
- Away they went.
- Down they fell.
- Round and round it flew.
The inversion does not change the meaning but adds more drama to the expression. It is useful for literary purposes.
* An adverbial of place (normally introduced with a preposition) can be followed by verbs of motion too, verbs indicating position or be born, die and live (sometimes some other verbs too):
- By the fire lay the cat fast asleep. (Lying by the fire was the cat fast asleep.)
- On the hill stood a castle. (Standing on the hil was a castle.)
- Over the gate hung children. (Hanging over the gate were children.)
- Over the wall came a shower of songs. (cannot be transformed or it will mean that the shower lasted for some time)
* Some of the examples I liked best from Thomson-Martinet's grammar I have used here myself while others were taken from the Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary and a few are my own.
Comments
Post a Comment