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  1. A brief burst of machine-gun fire is faintly heard.
  2. A brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard faintly.
  3. A brief, faint burst of machine-gun fire is heard.
  4. A faint, brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard.

Where is the best place to place "faint/faintly" in this sentence?

(The people who hear the machine-gun fire are on the second floor of a building while the man who fires the machine gun are on the sixth floor. That's why it's faint.)

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    They all sound fine to me! I don't think there's a grammatical reason to change the order.
    – 米凯乐
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 21:16
  • These are all fine IMHO. All basically mean the same thing. One could split hairs about precise meanings, either the machine gun fire itself was faint, the burst was faint, neither were faint but only faintly heard, etc. The outcomes are all the same - it was faint.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Apr 14, 2023 at 17:22
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    A faint burst of gunfire is brief. Use an active verb: A faint burst of gunfire disturbed the afternoon's peace.
    – Lambie
    Commented Apr 14, 2023 at 17:30
  • @Lambie Yes. If I were giving writing advice, which is not what the site is supposed to be about - there are all kinds of better ways of putting this e.g. "A distant burst of machine-gun fire brought a stop to the conversation." And I'm sure it wasn't a "faint burst of machine-gun fire". Gunfire isn't faint. It was far more likely "The faint/distant sound of gunfire".
    – WS2
    Commented May 22, 2023 at 8:15
  • @WS2 Writers don't always spell out every detail. First, you criticize me and then you do what you tell me not to do. Hmm. google.com/…
    – Lambie
    Commented May 22, 2023 at 23:33

2 Answers 2

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  1. A brief burst of machine-gun fire is faintly heard.
  2. A brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard faintly.

These two sound perfect to me for the situation you describe.

  1. A brief, faint burst of machine-gun fire is heard.
  2. A faint, brief burst of machine-gun fire is heard.

In these two sentences, both brief and faint are serving as adjectives to modify "burst"
I believe, you aren't explaining the burst as a faint one. It is heard faintly by people as they are far away from the shooting spot.

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These are all fine IMHO.

All basically mean the same thing. One could argue all day and split hairs about precise meanings, either the machine gun fire itself was faint, the burst was faint, neither were faint but only faintly heard, etc. However all the outcomes are the same - it was faint.

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