follows, showing different meanings, by using in the first an adverbial participle, and in the second a qualifying participle, as:—Kurante en la ĉambron, ŝi vidis mian hundon = (While) running into the room, she saw my dog. Ŝi vidis mian hundon kurantan = She saw my running dog. A phrase is often clearer if the conjunction ke be used instead of a predicative participle. For instance, instead of Ŝi vidis mian hundon kuranta en la ĉambron, we can say Ŝi vidis, ke mia hundo kuras en la ĉambron = She saw that my dog was (is) running into the room; or, Ŝi vidis mian hundon kuri en la ĉambron = She saw my dog run into the room.
88. Place of the adverb.—The adverb, as a rule, immediately precedes or follows the word to which it refers, or which it qualifies.
Examples.—Li rapide kuras, or, Li kuras rapide = He runs rapidly. La virino zorge legis (or, legis zorge) la leteron = The woman read the letter carefully. Li ĝentile demetis la ĉapelon = He politely took off his hat.
N.B.—In this last example it is more elegant to place the adverb, as in English, before the verb.
(a). To avoid ambiguity, care, however, must be taken not to place the adverb in a position where it might be taken to refer either to the word which precedes or the word which follows it. For instance, if an adverb be placed between two verbs, it sometimes happens that we cannot tell to which it refers, and the sense is thus materially altered.
Example.—Li ekstreme deziris saĝiĝi = He desired extremely to become wise. Li deziris saĝiĝi ekstreme = He desired to become extremely wise. In this example, if we place the adverb between the two verbs, and say Li deziris ekstreme saĝiĝi, the sentence might be translated in either of the above two ways. See also remarks on the use of ne (par. [59] (a)). The word nur, also, similarly modifies the word it precedes.
(b). Adverbs of comparison, such as: iom, multe, kiel, plej, pli, sufiĉe, tiel, tiom, tre, tro, are usually placed before the words to which they refer.
Examples.—Li iom laciĝis kaj multe senkuraĝiĝis = He became somewhat fatigued and much discouraged. Kiel malavare li agis, donante al sia frato tiom da mono, kiom li
bezonis! = How generously he acted in giving his brother as much money as he needed! Li venos pli aŭ malpli frue = He will come sooner or later (lit., more or less early). Vi agis plej saĝe, farante tion = You acted most wisely in doing that. Kio ajn okazos, li estis sufiĉe saĝa por tion fari = At all events he was wise enough to do that. Ŝi tre amis sian fraton = She loved her brother very much. Li tro manĝadas = He eats too much.
(c). To give emphasis, adverbs and adverbial participles may commence a sentence.