Adverbs and word order

[jasonleitch]

I figure this is probably an expressive and dynamic subject but are there some general do's and don'ts as far as adverb word order goes? Basically I've seen them used where they are in the place I'd expect them to be from being an English speaker, and then I see them a few words over in places I wouldn't expect them to be in. It can sometimes be difficult as a beginner trying to look to hard for a pattern for what's modifying what. Also and just as importantly, when you have 2 or more adverbs how are they implemented to make sure you're sounding natural and modifying what you mean to modify.

[Seonaidh]

Really I don't know. I really don't know. I don't really know. I don't know really.

Any examples?

[akerbeltz]

Some examples would be good indeed. The only rules of thumb that immediately spring to mind is that traditionally, adverbial expressions on place and time go towards the end of the phrase/sentence rather than the start, with time as far back as possible i.e. blabla PLACE TIME. So best avoid sentences like DiLuain, bha mi ann an Glaschu (instead of Bha mi ann an Glaschu DiLuain). I know it's tempting because coming out with the time first is easy and gives you time to think but it makes for really ugly sentences in Gaelic.

[poor_mouse]

Seo an eisimpleir agam mu dheidhinn òrdugh fhaclan:

Doilidh: Agus feumaidh mise na cairtean-puist a sgrìobh mi an-raoir a phostadh.
Ailig: Postaidh sinn aig an stèisean iad.

The object often appears in the end, when I've just forgotten completely thet we need it here in the phrase...
Place ("aig an stèisean") is not going to the end in such cases. Is it emphasizing or what?

[akerbeltz]

Yes, the object can be a bit funny like that, I forgot to mention that, but it can equally well appear before PLACE. This order is a rule of thumb, as most things, not EU Regulations

[faoileag]

I usually think of such sentences as a case of moving the object-pronoun (as the result of a wish to separate two personal pronouns to keep it clearer, or to put the less necessary /already known info at the end), rather than a case of adverb position.

Chì mi a-rithist thu
Chì mi san sgoil thu.

Even:
Chì mi san sgoil a-màireach thu.

But if there's too much in between you lose both the sense and the rhythm, so the pronoun-split has an intuitive limit.

[poor_mouse]

Yes, I think so: putting the less necessary at the end.
Unfortunately, in Russian we do not put the object (pronoun) at the end, but completely exclude it if it is not very interesting:
"Отправим их со станции" >> "отправим со станции", and not "отправим со станции их".
So, when the pronoun is omitted it its "usual" place, I do not expect it at the end of the phrase.

Feumaidh mi fàs cleachte ris...