+01 424 645 5957

+39 347 378 8169

+01 424 645 5957

+39 347 378 8169

Adverbials‏‎ in English

Parts Of Speech

Statement about adverbials in narratives.Adverbials are adverbs, adverbial phrases or adverbial clauses which give us additional information about the time, place, or manner of the action described in the rest of the sentence.

I had been reading my book quite happily on the sofa for half an hour, when my little brother burst into the lounge with his skates on.

The most common position for adverbials is at the end of the sentence. If there is more than one adverbial then place adverbials (on the sofa) come before time adverbials (for half an hour) and manner adverbials (quite happily) come before place adverbials (on the sofa).

However this is not a strict rule and you can, for example, start a sentence with an adverbial clause if it helps highlight something in particular.

When the lightning struck our house, we were sleeping peacefully in our beds.

Useful Links

Adverbs‏‎ in English Grammar – all about the different types of adverbs and their position in a sentence

Adverbial Phrases‏‎ in English  – explanation with examples of what these phrases are and how they work

Image © angelaathomas

Related Articles

ICAL TEFL Resources

The ICAL TEFL site has thousands of pages of free TEFL resources for teachers and students. These include: The TEFL ICAL Grammar Guide. Country Guides for teaching around the world. How to find TEFL jobs. How to teach English. TEFL Lesson Plans....

read more

6 Tips to Make your ESL Classes More Effective

Teaching is undeniably a challenging job, in fact many consider it one of the most difficult careers you could choose. Nevertheless, being a teacher is an enriching experience. Through quality education and effective teaching methodologies,...

read more

0 Comments