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Lucas21c Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

Position of adverb

Are both of the following sentences okay? If so, could you tell me which one is preferred between them?

1. I bought a new goose down jacket yesterday at the shop which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale.
2. I bought a new goose down jacket at the shop yesterday which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale.
  

Top answer

The second one doesn't sound right, but the first is awkward too. The following change makes things a bit better, I think: I bought a new goose down jacket yesterday at a shop which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale. I am assuming that the identity of the shop is not already known to the reader or listener.

— GPY

  • The second one doesn't sound right, but the first is awkward too.
  • The following change makes things a bit better, I think: I bought a new goose down jacket yesterday at a shop which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale.
  • I am assuming that the identity of the shop is not already known to the reader or listener.
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6 Answers
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The second one doesn't sound right, but the first is awkward too. The following change makes things a bit better, I think:

I bought a new goose down jacket yesterday at a shop which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale.

I am assuming that the identity of the shop is not already known to the reader or listener.
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Could you tell me why 'at the shop' makes the sentence sound awkward?
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lucas21cCould you tell me why 'at the shop' makes the sentence sound awkward?
"at the shop which is having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale" suggests that the listener should know which shop is meant is from the information that it is "having its biggest ever year-end clearance sale". This may not be what you meant. However, if it is what you meant, th
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Then, does "I bought a T-shirt at a shop which my brother runs" sound natural if the listener has no information about the shop"?
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lucas21cThen, does "I bought a T-shirt at a shop which my brother runs" sound natural if the listener has no information about the shop"?
Yes.
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GPYThe second one doesn't sound right
In the OP's second example, it's inserting "yesterday" between the relative pronoun "which" and its antecedent "shop" that makes it not sound right.

BillJ
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