Time adverbs

English has a profusion of single-word time adverbs and also many ways of creating phrasal and clausal adverbs. The main placement possibilities are shown together with an indication of whether the adverbs may also modify an adjective; none of them—except perhaps always—can easily modify an adverb. Phrasal and clausal time adverbs may modify an NP, following the head noun; for example, I dread [the hour before dawn] and I remember [the day when you got married]. And, as mentioned, some single-word time adverbs—predominantly from set (2)—may follow a noun, as in the conference tomorrow.

Some phrasal adverbs involve no preposition, for example, last week, this morning, all night long, next summer. Others are marked by a preposition; for example, in the morning, at three o’clock, for a week, on Monday. Clausal adverbs may be introduced by a wh- word; for example, when the sun sets, while you were away. Or they may take a preposition; for example, after the sun sets, since Churchill died. Phrasal and clausal time adverbs may be felicitously placed in position F. They may also be in position I, but this generally requires contrastive intonation and often special semantic conditioning. Consider, for example:

(48a) The exhibition will be opened at three o’clock this afternoon

(48b) The exhibition was opened at three o’clock this afternoon

(49a) At three o’clock this afternoon, the exhibition will be opened

(49b) *At three o’clock this afternoon, the exhibition was opened

Either future or past time reference is acceptable in (48a–b) when at three o’clock this afternoon is in the unmarked position, F. Position I, together with comma intonation, is fine in (49a) with future time reference. However, (49b), with the time adverb in position I and past time reference, would only be accepted in a highly marked, declamatory speech style. It seems that this adverb may felicitously precede the clause only when the event referred to has not yet taken place.

It is possible to place some phrasal time adverbs after the first word of an auxiliary, with contrastive intonation, as in He will, by tomorrow, have completed it. If there is no auxiliary then the dummy element do is required—one can say John did, in the middle of the night, jump out of bed. This is a variant on position A, which specifies placement after the first word of the auxiliary, if there is one, otherwise immediately before the verb. In this instance an auxiliary should normally be supplied (one can scarcely say *John, in the middle of the night, jumped out of bed).

Words in set (2) may occasionally occur in position A; for example, The King will today issue a pardon. And set (2) items do also function as nouns (as in Tomorrow promises to be a fine day).

Phrasal time adverbs, clausal adverbs, and the items in set (2) may be clefted. For example, It was yesterday/in the middle of the night/after his outburst/while he was on vacation that John got the sack. This may also apply to just a few items in other sets, such as recently.

Set (3) consists of adverbs formed by adding -ly to nouns referring to units of time—hour, day, night, week, month, season, year (but not second, minute, decade or century). They can be combined with number words; for example, six-monthly, half-hourly. These adverbs are basically restricted to position F, as in He gets paid weekly. They do not modify an adjective but do have adjective-like function, directly modifying a noun, as in on a (six)-monthly basis.

Set (4) consists of just in its time sense of ‘happened very recently’. It is restricted to position A, as in He has just entered the room. This adverb does not modify an adjective.

Set (5) also consists of a single item, always. This can refer to a continuous activity or to a repeated event, depending on the meaning of the verb; for example, She has always been on time (that is, on every single occasion) and She has always lived in Cardwell (that is, for all her life). It is generally in position A, although it can be used, contrastively, in F or I. Always may modify an adjective, as in An always cheerful receptionist brightens up the office.

Set (6) consists of still, already, often and the derived adverb permanently. These occur in positions A and F and may also modify an adjective (for example, a still cheerful colleague or a permanently cruel master). There is a homonymous form still which functions as a contrastive linker (like however and although). Compare the adverb still in (50) with the contrastive linker still in (51).

(50) John is (still) living with Mary (still)

(51) Still, I don’t believe it

Set (7) involves just presently; this may also modify an adjective, as in the presently jealous husband. Presently is derived from adjective present but has a wider range of meaning. When in position F it can relate to future time and requires a clause with future reference; for example, I’ll do it presently (*I’m doing it presently is not acceptable). When used in position I, either present or future reference is acceptable—Presently, I’m weeding the garden or Presently, I’ll weed the garden. Position A is restricted to present time reference, as in She is presently weeding the garden.

Set (8) consists of again, once and the phrasal adverb once more. These occur in all three positions, but do not modify adjectives. A is effectively the default position, while positions I and F indicate a contrastive sense. Compare:

(52a) I once got dizzy (routine report; implying that anyone is likely to get dizy on one occasion)

(52b) Once, I got dizzy (you may not believe it but this is what happened)

(52c) I got dizzy once (but never again)

(53a) He again arrived late (routine report; it may be only the second time it has happened)

(53b) Again, he arrived late (his doing so is getting to be a habit, and is not acceptable)

(53c) He arrived late again (this may be the third or fourth time it has happened)

Set (9) consists of a fair number of time adverbs which may appear in all three positions and may also modify an adjective. They include now, sometimes and the derived forms recently, generally, originally, temporarily and subsequently. For items in set (9)—and also those in set (10)—position F generally carries a contrastive overtone. Examples of this are: He’s out of work temporarily (but he’ll soon get a job) and He’s praying now (he’s never done that before). A typical example of adjectival modification is his generally generous nature.

It should be noted that the division between time and non-time adverbs is not clear-cut. Normally and usually, could equally appropriately have been placed in set (9) here.

Set (10) covers a number of adverbs which may again function in all three positions but, unlike set (9), do not modify an adjective. It includes soon, the derived form eventually and the phrasal form as usual. Interestingly, soon appears to be most at home later in the clause; He’ll weed the garden soon sounds more felicitous than He’ll soon weed the garden. The time adverb late is generally used in F position; however, comparative form later can be used with a non-comparative meaning, in place of late, and may then occur in any of the three positions (although F is most favored).

Set (11) consists just of the time adverb then ‘at that time’, which is restricted to F and A positions, as in:

(54) Mary was (then) baking a cake (then)

Here then has anaphoric function, referring back to some explicit or implicit time specification in the text; for example, John arrived at four o’clock and Mary was then baking a cake or John suddenly collapsed; Mary was then baking a cake.

The adverb then must be distinguished from coordinator (and) then, meaning ‘the next thing was’. This typically occurs in clause-initial position; for example, (And) then Mary made a cake. It can follow the first word of the auxiliary, as in Mary was then jolted into action. The two forms then occur in quite different syntactic and discourse contexts and there is little or no chance of their being confused. (There is a third then, a discourse marker which only occurs in non-formal speech, as in It’s going to be a fine day today then.)

A sentence can include a variety of time adverbs, either in different positions (for example, In the summer Mary always gets up at six a.m.) or in the same position (for example, Now, in the spring, the flowers are blooming). There may be a sequence of adverbs each of which has a time reference included within that of the adverb which follows. Consider:

(55) John married Mary [at ten o’clock]1 [on Saturday]2 [last week]3

Here 1 is referentially within 2 which is within 3. The most natural order is, as in (55), 1 2 3. One could have 3 1 2 or 2 3 1 or 3 2 1 but there would then be comma intonation after each adverb which is out of sequence; for example, John married Mary on Saturday last week, at ten o’clock. Or one could have 2 3 or just 3 in position I (with 1 or 1 2 in position F), as in On Saturday last week, John married Mary at ten o’clock. But it would be infelicitous to have 1 or 1 2 in position I, and 2 3 or 3 in F (one would not say *At ten o’clock John married Mary on Saturday last week). That is, a time adverb at position I can include in its reference one at position F but not vice versa.