The adverbial modifier, when a single word, generally follows an intransitive verb, and either precedes a transitive verb, or follows its object; as, This river flows rapidly. He did his work well.
When there are a number of adverbial modifiers in a sentence, they should be distributed over the sentence; as, At the request of my father, I gladly left my studies, to accompany him.
An adverb may stand in any part of the sentence, but its meaning generally varies with its position, hence the adverb should be placed as near as possible to the word or words it modifies.
Observe the following example:—
| He-only lost his book. | (No one else lost a book.) | |
| He only-lost his book. | (He did nothing else with it.) | |
| He lost only his book. | (He lost nothing else.) | |
| He lost his only book. | (His single book.) |
Certain adverbs and conjunctions are correlative (that is, having a mutual relation) to one another. Be careful to use the proper correlatives; as, He is esteemed not only for his accomplishments, but also for his piety.
The following is a list of correlatives:—
| Adverbs. | Conjunctions. | ||
| not only, | but also, | ||
| not, | but, but only, | ||
| only, | not, | ||
| so, | that, | ||
| so, | as, | ||
| such, | that, | ||
| both, | and, | ||
| as, well, soon, | as, | ||
| neither, | nor, | ||
| either, | or. |
The correlatives must be attached to the corresponding words and phrases; as, They gave me neither money nor shoes. I assisted only in the evening, not in the morning.