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Snarf Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Where to put this "quickly"
She storms quickly over to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
She storms over quickly to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
Does the second one sound better than the first, with "quickly" after "over" or does the first sound better? Does it even make much of a difference? Should "quickly" maybe come before "storms"?
Thanks.
She storms over quickly to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
Does the second one sound better than the first, with "quickly" after "over" or does the first sound better? Does it even make much of a difference? Should "quickly" maybe come before "storms"?
Thanks.
Top answer
The first one sounds better to me. I like to put my adverb as close as possible to the adjective or verb that it qualifies, but I don't know whether there are any hard and fast rules about this.
- The first one sounds better to me.
- I like to put my adverb as close as possible to the adjective or verb that it qualifies, but I don't know whether there are any hard and fast rules about this.
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10 Answers
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The first one sounds better to me. I like to put my adverb as close as possible to the adjective or verb that it qualifies, but I don't know whether there are any hard and fast rules about this.
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DMW The first one sounds better to me. I like to put my adverb as close as possible to the adjective or verb that it qualifies, but I don't know whether there are any hard and fast rules about this.No, I don't think that there are. I agree: the first is best, especially with an actual name there instead of "she"; I don't know why.
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I’d call #2 wrong. Quickly modifies storms, so keep them together.
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She storms quickly over to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
She storms over quickly to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face
Quickly, she storms over to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
She storms over to the two of them quickly with sheer wrath upon her face.
I see no real argument for or against any of these;
She storms over quickly to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face
Quickly, she storms over to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face.
She storms over to the two of them quickly with sheer wrath upon her face.
I see no real argument for or against any of these;
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Mister MicawberI see no real argument for or against any of these; it would depend solely on the greater context and flow of the narrative. There is no demand to juxtapose adverb to verb unless confusion otherwise results.This is certainly true, but I think I would add one thing: … unless confusion or awkwardness results. That said, I change my
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Quickly, here's a few examples from COCA, Gus (I used 'he' instead of 'she' because it's quicker)::
Quickly , he saw there was little need to change much of it.
Quickly , he undid the buttons of his shirt and shrugged it off.
Quickly , he
Quickly , he saw there was little need to change much of it.
Quickly , he undid the buttons of his shirt and shrugged it off.
Quickly , he
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I was referring to She storms over quickly to the two of them with sheer wrath upon her face, not the sentence beginning with quickly, which sounds fine to me.
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Ah, so I can't count, sorry—I looked at the one I thought least acceptable! I cannot find the precise phrase, but will these do, or do they fail your criteria?—
Reedy twitched then sat up quickly on the edge of her bunk.
He walked over quickly and pressed his fingers to the Baron Lo
Reedy twitched then sat up quickly on the edge of her bunk.
He walked over quickly and pressed his fingers to the Baron Lo
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