8 Word order

8.7 The position of the adverb in the sentence

Real adverbs are placed after the subject (x) and the verb (o) in the main sentence.

Jeg	besøgte	ikke	min	søster	i	går.
x	o

I	did	not	visit	my	sister	yesterday.
x			o

Han	kommer	måske	i morgen.
x	o

He	may	come	tomorrow.
x		o

In sentences with inversion the adverb comes after the verb (o) and the subject (x).

Kommer	han	måske	i morgen?
o	x

Will	he	come	tomorrow,	maybe?
	x	o

If we want to accentuate the adverb, this is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

Måske	kommer	han	i morgen.
	o	x

Maybe	he	will	come	tomorrow.
	x		o

Adverbs are always placed in between the subject (x) and the verb (o) in the subordinate clause.

Lone	sagde,	at	hun	ikke	havde	travlt.
			x		o

Lone	said	that	she	was	not	busy.
			x	o

In compound verbs, (eg. har brugt, har besøgt, har set) the true adverb is placed between the two words in the compound verb.

Jeg	har	ikke	besøgt	min	søster.
x	o1		o2

I	have	not	visited	my	sister.
x	o1		o2

De	har	ofte	set	hinanden.
x	o1		o2

They	have	often	seen	each	other.
x	o1		o2

The adverb is placed at the end of the sentence if the direct object (∆) is a personal pronoun (mig, dig, Dem, etc.).

Without a pronoun:

Hr. Hansen	kører	altid	sin bil.
x	o		∆

Mr. Hansen	always	drives	his car.
x		o	∆

With a pronoun:

Hr. Hansen	kører	den	altid.
x	o	∆

Mr. Hansen	always	drives	it.
x		o	∆

Without a pronoun:

Jeg	ser	ikke	Søren.
x	o		∆

I	do not	see	Søren.
x		o	∆

With a pronoun:

Jeg	ser	ham	ikke.
x	o	∆

I	do not	see	him.
x		o	∆

If there are several adverbs in the sentence, they are placed together in the sentence.

Lis	har	jo	altid	bagt	kage.
x	o1			o2

Lis	has,	after all,	always	baked	cake.
x	o1			o2

Comparison:
In most cases the position of the adverb is the same in English and in Danish.