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I was talking with a native English speaker saying "The Eurozone is harshly suffering as well." He reminded me that "harshly suffering" sounds odd, which he cannot explain, and I should say "The Eurozone is suffering harshly as well."

I googled it and as he said 'harshly suffer' does not show whereas 'suffer harshly' comes up.

Can anyone please explain about this? Thanks in advance:)

thegreentea
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  • Native English speakers are notoriously prone to error. As are all other people. Positioning of adverbs in English is not really an exact science, but I'd say "The Eurozone is harshly suffering as well." is non-standard, and possibly even unacceptable by some people's standards. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 26 '16 at 09:47

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I can only partly explain the usage. With most conversational topics the adverb usually precedes the verb. This particularly includes advice and instruction.

Lightly fold the flour into the well beaten eggs. Judiciously add cinnamon and nutmeg. Immediately place in the oven.

(But to emphasise a command the adverb follows)

Call the fire brigade immediately. Walk quietly to the place of assembly.

A weak or conventional adverb usually sounds fine in a weak position:

The Eurozone is apparently turning into a Superstate.
The Eurozone is eventually going to come out of this crisis.

A startling adverb sounds better post-positively.

They messed up spectacularly.
They marched relentlessly.
The currency fell dramatically.
They suffered harshly.

But there are many adverbial phrases which are commonly terminally placed as a coda.

The Eurozone is apparently turning into a Superstate even so.
The Eurozone is eventually going to come out of this crisis in good time.
They messed up spectacularly even so.
They marched relentlessly on and on.
The currency fell dramatically on Friday.
They suffered harshly as well.

Hugh
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In general, it sounds better for adverbs to be placed after the verb. I guess this generates a better picture. i.e. it is better to be able to generate a picture of 'suffering' before 'harshly', as 'harshly' is a very general term.

However sometimes we native speakers like to rearrange words just to place more emphasis (just like how I unnecessarily placed 'we' in this exact sentence).

Some more examples you might like to consider: He swam quickly vs he quickly swam She prayed quietly vs he quietly prayed It danced gracefully vs it gracefully danced

So there's not really anything particularly 'wrong' with each of the second options, it's just easier to paint a picture in our minds with the first options.

Inazuma
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  • Often adverbs sound better after the verb, but not always. If you place thoughtlessly the adverb between the verb and the direct object, you end up with a sentence that sounds terrible (like this one). – Peter Shor Mar 26 '16 at 11:59
  • I suppose in that example 'place' has many different meanings (even as a noun) and so 'thoughtlessly' provides more context. If you had considered 'place the adverb' as the verb, then thoughtlessly would sound better afterwards i.e. 'if you place the adverb thoughtlessly...' (especially as you have broken up the phrase as a whole, so it's almost an entirely different situation) – Inazuma Mar 26 '16 at 12:10