3

Consider the following sentences

XYZ was attacked in NY on Monday

XYZ was on Monday arrested in NY

These are from two different news reports. From what I've learned from order of adverbs, adverbs of time comes after adverbs of place. Why then was 'on Monday' - an adverb of time - moved and placed before the adverb of place?

I know they are flexible but what I want to know is, are both styles correct? Or are there rules that dictate the movement of adverbs?

1 Answer 1

2

The order is more of a guideline than a rule, although it's a pretty strong guideline. The second sounds a bit off, but is technically a correct, legitimate sentence. Maybe you'd use that if for some reason you wanted the listener/reader to be aware of the time prior to learning of the place, although the circumstances seem rare.

News reports are often hastily written, so perhaps the writer just had the Monday detail first in his notes or whatever, and didn't go back to edit for style.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .