Word order - place before time

Question

Hello,I have a question about word order.Yesterday we made pizza.We started at 5 o'clock after school in my friend's kitchen.Is the second sentence OK? Or does it sound weird because the usual word order should be "place before time"?Or would it be better to put it thus: We started in my friend's kitchen at 5 o'clock after school.On the other hand the word order "We started in my friend's kitchen at 5 o'clock after school." sounds a little weird to me (as a non-native speaker) too because I have the feeling that a verb like "start" should be closer to the time phrase. Thank youac2000

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

ac2000Is the second sentence OK? Or does it sound weird because the usual word order should be "place before time"?Or would it be better to put it thus: We started in my friend's kitchen at 5 o'clock after school.

They both sound a little 'off', but not for the reason you suggest. It remains unclear whether school finishes at 5 PM. I would abandon one of the time phrases.

Ac2000 · Answer

OK. Thank you!

Anonymous · Answer

"Place before time" only when it is used at the end of the sentence.

CalifJim · Answer

ac2000Yesterday we made pizza.We started at 5 o'clock after school in my friend's kitchen.

You started in your friend's kitchen? And then where did you go to finish making the pizza?

You see, there are a few problems with what you wrote. How about this instead?

We made pizza in my friend's kitchen after school yesterday. We started at 5 o'clock.

I think most people would just say at my friend's place. Making pizza in a kitchen is so obvious that it's not worth mentioning the kitchen.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

I disagree with a previous poster. Whether or not school finishes at 5:00 PM isn't relevant, because the sentence simply says 'after school'. Why would it even be relevant when school is out, if we're talking about the unrelated activity of making pizza?

Changing it to ''we started in my friend's kitchen at 5 o'clock after school'' just makes it sound like you started making the pizza in

Changing it to ''we started in my friend's kitchen at 5 o'clock after school'' just makes it sound like you started making the pizza in the kitchen, which implies you finished it somewhere else.

Your sentence is OK, but you placed three adjuncts after each other, breaking the sentence flow. The following sentence takes some emphasis away from 'at 5 o'clock', but it sounds better: ''we started after school, at 5 o'clock at my friend's place.'' Alternatively, you could make it ''We started at 5 o 'clock, at my friend's place, after school. As you know, adjuncts of time are usually placed at the end of the sentence, so this last sentence is probably the best.

That said, I've never cared much for 'place before time'. Emphasis is often more important than syntax conventions, and if you want to emphasize something, you place it further to the front of the sentence.

Word order - place before time

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