He (P) shuffled the papers (Q) in a drawer (R) together (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q S R
- (b)P Q R S
- (c)P S Q R
- (d)R S P Q
Correct — A, P Q S R. In this section each label stands immediately after the part it names. So (P) is 'He', (Q) is 'shuffled the papers', (R) is 'in a drawer' and (S) is 'together'. Reading P Q S R gives 'He shuffled the papers together in a drawer', because 'together' describes how the papers were gathered and must stay with the verb and its object, while the place phrase closes the sentence.
- (b)P Q R S — Ending with 'together' pulls it away from the shuffling, so it reads as though the drawer were together with something.
- (c)P S Q R — 'Together' cannot be dropped between the subject and the verb; that slot takes adverbs of frequency, not this one.
- (d)R S P Q — Opening with the place phrase and the adverb pushes the subject into the middle of the sentence and produces an order English does not use here.
A word-order item on placing an adverb of manner before an adverb of place.
English tends to line up manner before place and place before time. Fixing that sequence usually settles ordering items that contain both kinds of phrase.
- Leaving a manner adverb at the very end, where it attaches to the wrong word.
Asked as an ordering item that hinges on manner coming before place.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. He (P) tied (Q) with a string (R) the bundles together (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P Q S R
- (c)P S Q R
- (d)R P Q S
Answer(b) P Q S R — 'He tied the bundles together with a string.'
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. The clerk (P) filed (Q) in the cabinet (R) the letters carefully (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q S R
- (b)P Q R S
- (c)P S Q R
- (d)Q P R S
Answer(a) P Q S R — 'The clerk filed the letters carefully in the cabinet.'