Manner Adverbs After the Verb — Exercises
Practice placing manner adverbs (quickly, fluently, carefully) after the verb and its object, and never between the verb and the object.
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She walks slowly in the park.
A manner adverb usually goes after the main verb — 'walks slowly'.
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She speaks English fluently.
Don't put a manner adverb between the verb and the object. The natural position is after the object — 'speaks English fluently'.
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He opened the box carefully.
The natural position for a manner adverb is after the object — 'opened the box carefully'.
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The children laughed loudly.
With an intransitive verb, the manner adverb goes right after the verb — 'laughed loudly'.
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She read the book quickly.
Don't put a manner adverb between a verb and its object — 'read the book quickly'.
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I saw him clearly across the street.
A manner adverb goes after the object, not between the verb and the object — 'saw him clearly'.
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She rarely speaks loudly.
Frequency goes before the verb; manner goes after the verb — 'rarely speaks loudly'.
Manner Adverbs After the Verb
A manner adverb describes how an action is performed and typically goes at the end of the clause. With a verb that has a direct object, the adverb must come after the object — English never allows an adverb to split a verb from its object. With a verb that has no object, the adverb goes directly after the verb.
Verb + Object + Manner Adverb
He opened the box carefully. (not 'opened carefully the box')
I saw him clearly across the street. (not 'saw clearly him')
Intransitive Verb + Manner Adverb
When the verb has no object, the manner adverb can go straight after it.
She read the book quickly. (the object 'the book' still comes before the adverb)
Common Mistakes
✗ He opened carefully the box. → ✓ He opened the box carefully.
✗ She read quickly the book. → ✓ She read the book quickly.
Last updated: · Satori Editorial