Learn English – Adverb word order: “nicely shows” vs “shows nicely”

adverb-positionadverbsword-order

I have the following sentence in my dissertation:

The even-tempered STO basis for Mg shows nicely why the virial theorem cannot be trusted as an error indicator.

However, previously I had there:

… nicely shows why the …

But I was told that the "nicely shows" word order is incorrect. So I googled around and found many pages, for example [1]. It looks like that "nicely" falls into the "Adverbs of Manner" box, but those seem to go either before or after the verb, e.g.:

I slowly opened the door.

vs

We waited patiently for the play to begin.

Is there some rule to determine where to put the adverb, and which of the two ("shows nicely" vs "nicely shows") is correct and why?

[1] http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch24.html

Best Answer

After checking out a number of sites on the Net, it seems that most of the grammar pages say that adverbs of manner, like nicely, normally come after the verb. That may be true.

I find that it all depends on what I want to emphasize in the sentence. In the biomedical papers that I edit, I always change "as described previously" to "as previously described". Why? It sounds better to my ear because I put primary stress on the first syllable of previously when it comes before the verb, and seems to me to be the proper word order for what I consider a set phrase that should emphasize previously rather than described.

Most adverbs of manner can be placed before or after the verb. As Chris says in a comment, it slightly changes the emphasis and the rhythm of the sentence, not the meaning.

Whoever told you that the word order was incorrect was wrong. It's not incorrect; it's merely a personal preference, a matter of style, not grammar and not semantics.

I look at you all
See the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps

The rhythm of the sentence is what's important in these lyrics. It's perhaps less important in a science paper, but I usually[1] think about it when I edit.

Putting an adverb in the wrong place can change the meaning and focus of the sentence. I tend to ignore "rules" about adverb placement when I write and edit. I think about where each word belongs in each sentence in context, not in theory.

NOTE [1]: "...but I think usually about it" changes the meaning of the sentence.

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