I know that the pattern manner-place-time shouldn't be taken too seriously if one wants to speak natural English.
In real life, people rarely use a string of adverbs. Speakers will easily break the pattern for emphatic or stylistic reasons (usually placing the adverb at the beginning of the sentence). Other factors such as length and specificity will also override the arrangement.
But I'm constructing illustrative sentences that highlight (and stick to) the Royal Order of Adverbs.
What all the online sources are doing is mixing adverbs and prepositional phrases, but I can't have the concept of prepositional phrases in my examples just yet. This means I should include only one-word or two-word adverbs (without prepositions).
So, I have these:
- He sat quietly upstairs all day.
- She waited impatiently outside this morning.
- They gather noisily downtown every Saturday night.
Are the sentences above still correct, as in natural-sounding? Somehow they started sounding a bit off to me. I guess I just need to test them with a second pair of ears.
Best Answer
Yes - I can't find anything grammatically wrong, but certainly your second example doesn't sound natural. It's probably, as you imply, that a lot of information is being condensed into a small space, when it might be better put in extended constructions (get a move on with those prepositional phrases!) or even more than one sentence.
She waited outside this morning.
She waited impatiently outside.
??She waited impatiently this morning.
She waited impatiently outside the school this morning.
She waited - impatiently - outside, this morning.
She waited outside this morning. Impatiently.
Of course, there are some who would say that outside is an intransitive preposition in your second example (and in four of mine).
I've found an article covering 'the Royal Order of Adverbs' at the Farlex Grammar Book. Here are some salient points:
And if the Royal Order ruling has to be seen as a rule of thumb, it is almost inconceivable that this codicil is more binding.