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Sentence structure and word order 6
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Lecture1.1
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Lecture1.2
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Lecture1.3
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Lecture1.4
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Lecture1.5
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Lecture1.6
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Specific types of subordinate clauses 4
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Lecture2.1
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Lecture2.2
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Lecture2.3
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Lecture2.4
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Om + te + infinitive 2
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Lecture3.1
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Lecture3.2
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Order and position of other elements in the clause 2
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Lecture4.1
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Lecture4.2
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Counterfactual 3
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Lecture5.1
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Lecture5.2
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Lecture5.3
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Order and position of adverbial adjuncts
If several adverbial adjuncts appear in one clause, their order is not governed by strict rules, but by tendencies. The first tendency is for the adjunct of time to come before any other adjuncts. Any other adjuncts will follow with manner usually preceding place.
1st position | finite verb | time | manner | place |
Het meisje The girl |
gaat is going |
morgen tomorrow |
met de fiets by bike |
naar haar grootouders. to her grandparents. |
Note that this is different from the ‘usual’ order in English, where an adjunct of time tends to occur after other adjuncts: The girl is going by bike to her grandparents tomorrow.
If there is any other adjunct it tends to be positioned according to its relative importance in the sentence. If we add a purpose adjunct to the above example (voor een feestje – ‘for a party’), this could occur between the adjuncts of time and manner, between the adjuncts of manner and place, or after the adjunct of place.
The second tendency is for longer adjuncts to follow shorter ones. The purpose adjunct in the following example is relatively long and therefore best placed at the end:
1st position | finite verb | time | manner | place | purpose |
Het meisje The girl |
gaat is going |
morgen tomorrow |
met de fiets by bike |
naar haar grootouders to her grandparents |
voor de tachtigste verjaardag van haar oma. for the eightieth birthday of her grandma. |
From this it follows that the (very short) adverbs of place er, daar and hier are always placed first in any sequence of adjuncts.
1st position | finite verb | place | time | manner |
De kinderen The children |
spelen play |
hier here |
elke dag every day |
heel rustig. very quietly. |
Adjuncts also typically occur in the first and/or final positon of a clause:
1st position | finite verb | subject | manner | place | non finite verb(s) | final position (purpose) |
Gisteren Yesterday |
is has |
het meisje the girl |
met de fiets by bike |
naar haar grootouders to her grandparents |
gegaan gone |
voor een feestje. for a party. |