Using an adverb and a prepositional phrase interchangeably

Question

Can we use an adverb and a prepositional phrase interchangeably in the following sentences?

A. (With adverb) She used to reach there on time daily.

(With phrase) She used to reach there on time on a daily basis.

B. (With adverb) She used to reach there in a well-prepared manner daily.

(With phrase) She used to reach there in a well-prepared manner on a daily basis.

Answer 1

All four of your examples are grammatical, but none are idiomatic.

"Daily: 1a : occurring, made, or acted upon every day //daily needs"

is not ordinarily a precise term - that is, while it specifies once per day, it is not ordinarily used to specify exactly when during the day the event occurs.

As an example, you might well say the "The sun rises daily", but if you live in temperate latitudes you're aware that the exact time of sunrise varies wildly during the year. For more exact instances, daily can be used, but with a modifying phrase: "The mail was delivered daily, at exactly 3 o'clock."

So, combining an inexact term like "daily" with a much more restrictive phrase like "on time" is jarring. Instead, you might try something like,

A. She used to arrive on time every day/regularly.

B. She used to reach there every day well-prepared.

Although B is still somewhat clumsy.

Also note that "in a well-prepared manner" is a very clumsy phrase.

Answer 2

Adverbs are used to describe verbs in terms of how or what manner in which they take place but proposition phrases add more sittings in which the actions (verbs) happened. They are not interchangeable.

Answer 3

Technically speaking, I think all four are grammatically correct. However, they are phrased awkwardly for a reason that I can't quite put my finger on.

For situations like this, I would structure the sentence one of two ways:

• 1) Talk about what she used to do in context of why she doesn't anymore

e.g.

Before her car went into the shop, she would arrive to her destination on time everyday.

or

Until recently she had been arriving to school every day well-prepared for all her classes.

• 2) Switch the order of the phrases.

e.g.

Every day she would show up on time.

or

Every day she would show up well-prepared.

Maybe it's the "reach there" phrase that's throwing me off, especially without the context of wherever "there" is.