Can I put an adverbial phrase between the verb and the object?

Question

The two sentences:

"She ran very fast down the hill"

and

"She changed very little her husband"

seem to have the same structure, but the first sounds fine and the second one sounds wrong. What is going on?

Answer 1

The first sentence only works because it doesn't actually have an object; "down the hill" is a prepositional phrase acting as an adverb for "ran" so the sentence is effectively just a subject, a verb, and then two phrases acting as adverbs for that verb. If your sentence has an object at all like the second one does, it won't work to put an adverbial phrase between the verb and object.

Answer 2

The two sentences you provided do indeed have the same structure, with an adverbial phrase placed between the verb and the object. However, the second sentence is grammatically incorrect because the verb "changed" does not make sense when used with the object "her husband."

In the first sentence, "ran" is a verb that can be modified by an adverbial phrase such as "very fast," and the sentence makes sense. In the second sentence, however, "changed" is not a verb that can be used with the object "her husband." Instead, it might be more appropriate to use a verb like "influenced" or "affected."

For example:

"She influenced her husband very little."

"She affected her husband very little."

These sentences are grammatically correct because the verb "influenced" and "affected" can be used with the object "her husband," and the adverbial phrase "very little" modifies the verb and describes the extent to which the action was performed.

Best,

Erik L.

Answer 3

They're not exactly the same structure.

"She ran very fast down the hill" Here, the "very fast" refers to herself and describes how fast she ran. The hill isn't really relevant to her running speed, it's just the place where the event occurred. In other words, the "very fast" is not modifying the hill. That said, you could also say, "She ran down the hill very fast" without changing the meaning. However, "quickly" is actually a better choice than "fast."

"She changed very little her husband" Here, her husband is the direct object--he is receiving the change. Therefore, it makes more sense to put the adverbial phrase after "husband."

Answer 4

She ran very fast is referring to how she ran, not how the hill ran, down the hill is where she ran very fast.

But

She changed very little is ambiguous

is the very little change referring to her? being married to her husband changed her very little? or is it referring to her husband? she changed her husband very little? Her husband changed very little after being married to her?

She ran is clearly referring to her running. although if she ran a a machine, it wouldn't refer that way.

She changed could mean she herself changed or that she changed the husband and it's the husband who underwent change

she changed her husband, very little makes it clearer it's the husband who is changing

she changed very little initially sounds like she is the one changing, but it makes no sense that way followed by her husband.