I've read that the order of adverbs is Manner-Place-Frequency-Time-Purpose but I'm not sure when there are 2 adverbs of frequency like in this sentence: I usually play badminton with my brother at a sports center near where I live at the weekend? Is the sentence above correct?
2 Answers
It depends on what you mean.
I usually play badminton on the weekend with my brother at a sports center near where I live
states that you usually play badminton during the weekend and does not imply that you live in two different places, one during the week and one during the weekend
I usually play badminton with my brother at a sports center near where I live on the weekend
does not state that you usually play badminton during the weekend, but does imply that you live in two different places, one during the week and one during the weekend.
The key rule in English is that modifiers must be close to what they are modifying. If "on the weekend" modifies "play," it needs to be close to "play." If it is close to "live," it seems to be modifying "live." The rules about the order of modifiers takes second place to the rule about modifiers being close to what they modify.
Note: "at the weekend" is not idiomatic in American English. "On," "during," and "over" are the prepositions usually used with "weekend."
The sentence seems correct to me, apart from the fact that North Americans wouldn't use the British at the weekend. This is absolutely something people might say.
Stylistically, the sentence isn't ideal because the short adverbial at the weekend is separated from the verb by the lengthy intervening at a sports center near where I live, which makes the whole sentence harder to parse aurally. I would prefer one of the following options:
On weekends, I usually play badminton with my brother at a sports center near where I live.
I usually play badminton with my brother on weekends at a sports center near where I live.
