Introducing English Linguistics

yesterday after his pet Jack Russell puppy Sam
started a fire 
at his flat. 
(BNC HJ3 218)
Second, although some adverbials favor certain positions in a clause, most
can move around. In the example above, yesterday could move to the start
of the clause:
Yesterday A MAN was left homeless
The entire clause beginning with after could also be shifted to the start of
the sentence:
After his pet Jack Russell puppy Sam started a fire 
at his flat, a man
was left homeless 
yesterday.
Of course, other clause elements can move around too. But when a direct
object is made subject of a sentence in the passive voice, not only does the
object change functions (from object to subject) but an entirely different
type of sentence results (a sentence in the passive rather than active voice).
Moving adverbials around mainly involves changes in emphasis and focus.
Finally, because of the diverse nature of adverbials, they form natural
groupings. Biber et al. (1999: 763—5), for instance, identify three classes of
adverbials: circumstance, stance, and linking. These classes are distin-
guished by the particular semantic relations that the adverbial expresses
as well as by the extent to which the adverbial is integrated into the clause
in which it occurs.
Circumstance adverbials exhibit close integration into clauses. For
instance,  quickly in the example below is very closely connected to the
predicator walked, describing the pace at which Helen had walked.
Helen pulled on her jacket and walked quickly towards the door, not
wanting to look at Mike. 
(BNC HOF 2728)
Adverbials in this class, Biber et al. (1999: 763) note, answer questions
“such as ‘How, When, Where, How much, To what extent?’ and ‘Why’.”
Many different kinds of adverbials can answer these questions, and can
additionally have many different forms. For instance, the example below
contains three time adverbials answering the question “when.” The adver-
bials are, respectively, a prepositional phrase, a noun phrase, and an
adverb phrase:
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

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English syntax
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