Editing Norwegian language (section)

===== Adverbs =====

Adverbs follow the verb they modify. Depending on the type of adverb, the order in which they appear in the phrase is pre-determined. Manner adverbs for example, precede temporal adverbs. Switching the order of these adverbs would not render the phrase ungrammatical, but would make it sound awkward. Compare this to the English phrase "John probably already ate dinner." Switching the adverbs' position (''already'' and ''probably'') to "John already probably ate dinner" is not incorrect, but sounds unnatural. For more information, see [[Cartographic syntax]].

* {{lang|nb|Hun sang '''rørende''' '''vakkert'''.}} ('She sang touchingly beautiful.')
* {{lang|nb|Hun sang '''utrolig''' '''høyt'''.}} ('She sang unbelievably loud.')

The adverb may precede the verb when the focus of the sentence is shifted. If special attention should be directed on the temporal aspect of the sentence, the adverb can be fronted. Since the V2 rule requires the finite verb to syntactically occupy the second position in the clause, the verb consequently also moves in front of the subject.

* {{lang|nb|I dag}} {{lang|nb|'''vil'''|italics=no}} <u>{{lang|nb|jeg|italics=no}}</u> {{lang|nb|drikke kaffe|italics=no}}. ('''Today'', <u>I</u> '''want''' to drink coffee.')
* {{lang|nb|I dag}} {{lang|nb|'''spiser'''|italics=no}} <u>{{lang|nb|jeg|italics=no}}</u> {{lang|nb|fisk|italics=no}}. ('''Today'', <u>I</u> '''eat''' fish.')

Only one adverb may precede the verb, unless it belongs to a bigger constituent, in which case it does not modify the main verb in the phrase, but is part of the constituent.

* {{lang|nb|Hun spiste suppen|italics=no}} {{lang|nb|'''raskt i går'''}}. ('She ate the soup quickly yesterday.')
* {{lang|nb|'''I går'''}} {{lang|nb|spiste|italics=no}} {{lang|nb|hun}} {{lang|nb|suppen raskt|italics=no}}. ('Yesterday she ate the soup quickly.')
* <u>{{lang|nb|Laget som spilte '''best'''|italics=no}}</u>, {{lang|nb|hadde forlatt plassen.|italics=no}} ('The team that played the best had left the pitch.')