The adverbial Modifier

Adverbials differ from other types of secondary parts of the sentence in at least three respects:

1) Adverbials are usually optional, i.e. they may be omitted without making the clause unacceptable.

2) Adverbials are not restricted in number, i.e. there may be any number of adverbials in the sentence.

3) Adverbials are often mobile, i.e. they can occur at different places in the sentence.

1. From the point of view of structure (but not communicative value), the use of adverbials may be optional (non-obligatory) or obligatory.

Optional adverbials provide additional information, they are part of the structure of the sentence, but they are not essential to the structure:

Sometimes the children played by the lake.

Adverbials are obligatory when the sentence structure demands one or when their absence changes the meaning of the verb. This is the case:

a) after to behave, to act, to treat:

He behaved bravely.

b) after stative and durative verbs: to live, to wait, to last, etc.:

John lives in London.

c) after verbs implying direction: to put, to send, etc.:

Put the book on the shelf.

d) after verbs of motion and position in space: to come, to step, to sit, etc.:

He went to the dressing-room.

2. From the point of view of their relation to the modified parts of the sentence, adverbials may be non-detached and detached.

Detached adverbials are more loosely related to the modified parts, they are never obligatory and are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Detachment of adverbials may be caused by:

a) their meaning and structure:

He saw the boat, its decks deserted (Absolute Construction).

b) their extension or unusual position in the sentence:

Like him, she saw the danger in it.

c) the speaker’s desire for emphasis:

“He was her father”, said Frances, gravely.

Structural Types of the Adverbial Modifier

From the point of view of its structure the adverbial modifier may be simple, phrasal, complex, clausal.

Simple: We started early.

Phrasal: We started at five in the morning.

Complex: John sat with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped.

Clausal: When the cat is away, the mice will pay.