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Of the two sentences below, which would be correct?

  1. I have sent a book at head office by bus
  2. I have sent a book by bus at head office

The placement of "by bus" and "at head office" are different. I want to confirm which placement is correct in the above sentences.

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  • 2
    Use “to the head office” and then either sentence works.
    – Jim
    Jan 2, 2017 at 18:16

2 Answers 2

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Neither is correct, since you sent something to somewhere, not at somewhere. To indicates direction.

Otherwise while there is a recommended order to adverbs or adverbial phrases, both are fine and natural English. But if you want to follow the recommended order, it is:

  1. Manner
  2. Place
  3. Frequency
  4. Time
  5. Purpose

So, in your example:

I sent a book by bus (manner) to the head office (place).

Other examples:

I have to run quickly (manner) down the street (place) each morning (frequency) after breakfast (time) in order to catch my bus to school (purpose).

She buys dinner from the shop (place) every evening (frequency) for her children (purpose).

However, I think this "order" is as often broken as not. For example, when using verbs that imply movement it can be better to put the direction or location first, to avoid confusion:

I sent a book to the head office (place) by bus (manner).

Or you just order it by what you think is important:

She buys dinner for her children (purpose) every evening (frequency) from the shop (place).

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  • It means we can use purpose,place and time either way? As above example shown
    – Meraj hussain
    Jan 7, 2017 at 2:29
  • The recommended order is a good place to start, and a good rule to use if you're not sure. But yes, most of the time, they can be in any order.
    – Andrew
    Jan 7, 2017 at 2:44
  • We can say that the teacher is fighting against carroption in parliament. Or the teacher is fighting in parliament against carroption. Are either sentences correct?
    – Meraj hussain
    Jan 7, 2017 at 8:43
  • Yes, either is fine -- but in this case there can be a slight emphasis to indicate which is more important -- either what the teacher is fighting against (corruption) or against whom she is fighting (parliament).
    – Andrew
    Jan 7, 2017 at 15:16
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First of all, "at head office" is incorrect. When you say you sent a book at the head office, most English speakers assume you mean that you were at the office. What you want here is "to" or "towards," so:

  1. I have sent a book to the head office by bus

  2. I have sent a book by bus to the head office.

To answer your question, these are both correct.

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