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Look at the sentence below.
In the morning, Toby went for a run.
Which words tell us when Toby went for a run?
In the morning tells us when Toby went for a run.
We call this group of words a fronted adverbial.
Fronted Adverbials
Fronted adverbials are words that go at the start of a sentence telling us where, when or how something is done.
We always put a comma after a fronted adverbial.
What is the fronted adverbial in this sentence?
Below the sea, there lived a mysterious creature.
Here, below the sea is the fronted adverbial.
It’s a fronted adverbial of place, telling us where something happens.
Here are some fronted adverbials of place (where), manner (how) and time (when) that you can use in your writing.
| Place (where) | Time (when) | Manner (how) |
| Upstairs, | Next year, | Quickly, |
| In the distance, | On Wednesday, | Carefully, |
| Behind the fence, | After a while, | With great care, |
| Beneath the ground, | In December, | Energetically, |
Here is a simple sentence about this picture:
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The boy walked his dog.
We can add fronted adverbials of place, time or manner to this sentence to make it sound better.
Fronted adverbial of time (when):
In the morning, the boy walked his dog.
Fronted adverbial of place (where):
In the park, the boy walked his dog.
Fronted adverbial of manner (how):
Happily, the boy walked his dog.
In this activity, you’ll be on the hunt for fronted adverbials.
Keep your eyes peeled for those commas.
