6.12 minor positional points

If a clause has two adjuncts, and one is an adverb and the other is a prepositional phrase, you can usually place either of them first.

• Miss Burns looked calmly at Marianne.
• They were sitting happily in the car.
• The women shouted at me savagely.
• He got into the car quickly and drove off.

However, if the prepositional phrase is rather long, it is more common to place the adverb first, immediately after the verb.

• He listened calmly to the report of his aides.
• She would sit crosslegged in her red robes.

Similarly, if the verb group is followed by a long object, the adverb comes after the verb and before the object.

• He could picture easily the consequences of being found by the owners.
• She sang beautifully a school song the children had taught her when they were little.