Use Fronted Adverbials to Say Where Something Happens

Can you spot the adverbial in this sentence?

We planted the seeds in the garden.

Adverbials are words or groups of words telling us where, when, how or how often something happens.

In the garden is a group of words telling us where the seeds were planted.

This is an adverbial of place as it tells us where something happened.

Fronted Adverbials

If we move the adverbial to the start of a sentence, we call it a fronted adverbial.

In the garden, we planted the seeds.

When we use a fronted adverbial, we must put a comma afterwards.

In this activity, we’re going to be looking at fronted adverbials of place.

Fronted Adverbials of Place

Fronted adverbials of place tell us where something happens.

Here are some examples:

In the distance,

Below the bridge,

Above the barn,

Between the trees,

Behind the tent,

Can you make up any sentences using these fronted adverbials?

How about these?

In the distance, a mysterious beast was chasing its prey.

Above the barn, the escaped goat sat on the roof.

Behind the tent, Dexter the dog hid the sausages.

Look at the sentence below:

The boy kicked the ball.

Can you add a fronted adverbial of place to this sentence to make it sound more exciting?

We could have:

On the football pitch, the boy kicked the ball.

In the garden, the boy kicked the ball.

Can you see the comma after each fronted adverbial?

In this activity, you’ll be on the hunt for fronted adverbials of place.

Good luck.