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Jerry Chen
Joined: 26 Jan 2006
Posts: 115
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 Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:09 am Post subject: Need help from English native speakers |
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Hello,
Are the following sentences all acceptable? Where should �by+object� be put in a sentence?
My purse was stolen by a bad guy on the train this morning.
My purse was stolen on the train by a bad guy this morning.
My purse was stolen on the train this morning by a bad guy.
Thanks for your help! |
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Tao
Joined: 26 Oct 2012
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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I would prefer # 1 but I'm not familiar with rules that dictate the order of who/how, where, or when. I would probably say "My purse was stolen this morning by a bad guy on the train" keeping the adverb phrase "this morning with the verb followed by the other adverbial phrases that begin with a preposition. Otherwise, I would be ok with any of the sentences.
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TAO |
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IanT
Joined: 13 Sep 2012
Posts: 340
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 4:28 am Post subject: |
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With adverb phrases coming after the object like this, the order normally taught is "how" "where" "when" and then "why".
This is not an absolute rule, however, and "by a bad guy", being nearly "how", but not quite, makes it more complex.
In this case you have to go with what sounds ok. Personally I like 1 and 3
Hope helps,
Ian
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All my answers refer to British English.
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