5 exercises — practise placing frequency, degree, and certainty adverbs correctly in technical writing.
0 / 17 completed
1 / 17
Which sentence places the frequency adverb "rarely" correctly for standard technical writing?
Mid-position placement is standard for frequency adverbs like "rarely": they go after the subject and before the main verb, or after the first auxiliary/be-verb ("The service rarely times out"). Option B places "rarely" after the full verb phrase, which sounds unnatural for a single-word frequency adverb outside of contrastive emphasis. Option C ("Rarely the service times out") is ungrammatical in a declarative statement without inversion (it would need "Rarely does the service time out" to be grammatical as fronted negative-adverb inversion). Option D incorrectly splits the phrasal verb "times out" with the adverb, which is not how English phrasal verbs work.
2 / 17
Choose the sentence with correct placement of the degree adverb "significantly" in a performance report.
"Significantly reduced" places the degree adverb immediately before the verb it modifies, which is the standard mid-position for adverbs modifying a transitive verb followed by its object. Option A places "significantly" after the object, which sounds like an afterthought and creates ambiguity about whether it modifies "reduced" or "by 40%". Option C uses "significantly" as a sentence adverb (meaning "importantly"), which changes the meaning entirely — it now comments on the whole clause rather than the degree of reduction. Option D incorrectly splits the verb from its direct object with the adverb, which is ungrammatical for transitive verb-object pairs.
3 / 17
In a design doc, which placement of "always" is correct for describing a system invariant?
"Is always invalidated" is correct: with the verb "be" (including as an auxiliary in the passive voice), the adverb of frequency goes immediately after "be" and before the past participle. Option A incorrectly places "always" before "is", which is ungrammatical word order for a be-verb. Option C breaks up the passive verb phrase incorrectly. Option D fronts "always" for emphasis, which is grammatical but stylistically unusual and less standard for describing a routine system invariant in a design doc — mid-position (option B) is the neutral, expected form.
4 / 17
Which sentence correctly places "probably" to express a moderate degree of certainty about a bug's cause?
"Is probably caused" follows the standard rule: certainty adverbs like "probably", "certainly", and "definitely" go after "be" and before the past participle in a passive construction. Option A is correct. Option B ("probably is caused") reverses the order and sounds noticeably less natural, though not fully ungrammatical — most native-speaker style guides still prefer adverb-after-"be". Option C splits "is caused" with "probably" in a way that sounds like an afterthought rather than a calibrated certainty marker. Option D awkwardly fronts "probably" and adds an unnecessary comma, disrupting the clause.
5 / 17
A postmortem states: "The rollback procedure _____ failed to restore the previous configuration." Choose the adverb placement that correctly conveys near-total failure.
"Almost completely" is the correct order: "almost" is a degree adverb that modifies the following adverb "completely", so it must precede it ("almost completely failed" = the failure was nearly total, i.e., a small part of the restoration succeeded). Reversing the order ("completely almost") is ungrammatical because "completely" cannot be modified by a following "almost" in this construction. Adding commas (options C and D) incorrectly treats the adverbs as separate parenthetical elements rather than a single modifying chain, which disrupts the intended meaning and reads unnaturally in technical prose.
6 / 17
PR Description
During code review, you're assessing a pull request that adds a new logging function. The developer has written:
"The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
Which revision of this sentence best utilizes adverb placement for clarity and technical precision?
A) "The function will log errors if the input data is invalid."
B) "The function is logging errors whenever the input data is invalid."
C) "The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
D) "The function will log errors, when the input data is invalid."
This question focuses on the precise use of 'when' versus 'whenever'. 'Whenever' indicates a condition that *always* triggers the logging. Option A uses 'if', which implies a conditional statement and doesn't directly link the logging to the invalid data. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly employ the verb 'is,' creating an unnecessary passive construction. Using 'whenever' clearly establishes the dependency between the input data's invalidity and the function's action, aligning with standard technical documentation clarity.
7 / 17
PR Description
During code review, you're assessing a pull request that adds a new logging function. The developer has written:
"The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
Which revision of this sentence best utilizes adverb placement for clarity and technical precision?
A) "The function will log errors if the input data is invalid."
B) "The function is logging errors whenever the input data is invalid."
C) "The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
D) "The function will log errors, when the input data is invalid."
This question focuses on the precise use of 'when' versus 'whenever'. 'Whenever' indicates a condition that *always* triggers the logging. Option A uses 'if', which implies a conditional statement and doesn't directly link the logging to the invalid data. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly employ the verb 'is,' creating an unnecessary passive construction. Using 'whenever' clearly establishes the dependency between the input data's invalidity and the function's action, aligning with standard technical documentation clarity.
8 / 17
PR Description
During code review, you're assessing a pull request that adds a new logging function. The developer has written:
"The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
Which revision of this sentence best utilizes adverb placement for clarity and technical precision?
A) "The function will log errors if the input data is invalid."
B) "The function is logging errors whenever the input data is invalid."
C) "The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
D) "The function will log errors, when the input data is invalid."
This question focuses on the precise use of 'when' versus 'whenever'. 'Whenever' indicates a condition that *always* triggers the logging. Option A uses 'if', which implies a conditional statement and doesn't directly link the logging to the invalid data. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly employ the verb 'is,' creating an unnecessary passive construction. Using 'whenever' clearly establishes the dependency between the input data's invalidity and the function's action, aligning with standard technical documentation clarity.
9 / 17
PR Description
During code review, you're assessing a pull request that adds a new logging function. The developer has written:
"The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
Which revision of this sentence best utilizes adverb placement for clarity and technical precision?
A) "The function will log errors if the input data is invalid."
B) "The function is logging errors whenever the input data is invalid."
C) "The function will log errors whenever the input data is invalid."
D) "The function will log errors, when the input data is invalid."
This question focuses on the precise use of 'when' versus 'whenever'. 'Whenever' indicates a condition that *always* triggers the logging. Option A uses 'if', which implies a conditional statement and doesn't directly link the logging to the invalid data. Options B, C, and D all incorrectly employ the verb 'is,' creating an unnecessary passive construction. Using 'whenever' clearly establishes the dependency between the input data's invalidity and the function's action, aligning with standard technical documentation clarity.
10 / 17
During a Slack discussion about a recent database outage, a senior engineer says: "The system responded quickly to the spike in traffic." Which placement of the adverb 'quickly' best conveys the urgency and technical detail expected in this context?
Adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. In this scenario, 'quickly' describes how the system *responded*. Placing it directly before 'responded' provides the most precise and technical detail. The other options misplace the adverb or use it in a less specific manner that doesn't align with describing a technical event.
11 / 17
A developer is writing an API response message to indicate the status of a job. They write: 'The job almost completed successfully.' Which option best demonstrates correct adverb placement for conveying this nuanced situation?
'Almost' is an adverb of degree modifying the verb 'completed'. Placing it directly before 'completed' accurately reflects a near-success. Options 1 and 2 incorrectly use 'almost' as an adjective or change the sentence structure unnecessarily. Option 4 is grammatically incorrect.
12 / 17
During a code review of a new microservice deployment, a team member comments: 'The service will reliably handle requests.' Which placement of the adverb 'reliably' best communicates the desired level of performance and stability expected from the system?
Adverbs typically modify verbs and should be placed as close to the verb as possible for clarity. Placing 'reliably' before 'handle' emphasizes that the *action* of handling is consistently dependable. Options A & B are grammatically incorrect, while option D incorrectly creates a redundant phrase.
13 / 17
A QA engineer is investigating a reported issue with the user authentication service. They discover that requests are intermittently failing due to a race condition in the code. Which of the following best describes how to phrase this finding for a technical report?
Option 1 accurately uses the adverb 'sporadically' to describe intermittent failures, appropriate for technical reporting. The other options use overly strong or imprecise language – 'occasionally' doesn't convey the degree of issue, and the others present inaccurate assessments.
14 / 17
During a standup meeting, a developer states: 'The build process completes almost instantaneously.' Which adverb placement is most effective for conveying the speed of the build to the team?
Option 3 uses 'significantly' to express a degree of speed relative to an implied baseline. The other options either use overly strong claims ('rapidly', 'zero seconds') or lack precision ('typically').
15 / 17
A senior developer is reviewing a pull request that introduces a new caching layer. The developer writes: 'The system will always retrieve data from the database.' Which placement of the adverb best reflects the intended design constraint?
Option 1 uses 'consistently' to emphasize a strong and reliable guarantee. The other options misinterpret the meaning of 'always' – it doesn't mean *never* use the database; it means retrieval will *always* happen from there.
16 / 17
A Slack message reads: 'The server responded quickly to the sudden traffic surge.' Which placement of the adverb 'quickly' is most appropriate in this context?
Option 1 uses 'swiftly' to accurately convey immediate responsiveness under pressure. It avoids overly technical terms and clearly communicates the desired outcome: fast reaction to an unexpected event.
17 / 17
A code review comment states: 'The function will likely return null if the input is invalid.' Which placement of the adverb best communicates the degree of probability?
Option 3 uses 'probably' to express a moderate level of likelihood. The other options use stronger or weaker terms that don't accurately reflect the situation – 'almost always' is too absolute, and 'occasionally' is too weak.
What will I practise in "Adverb Placement in Technical English — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise correct mid-position, front-position, and end-position placement of frequency, degree, and certainty adverbs in reports, postmortems, and design docs.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 17 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
Is this exercise free to use?
Yes. Every exercise on CoderSlingo, including this one, is free to use with no account, sign-up, or paywall.
Do I need to create an account to do these exercises?
No account is required. Just click an option to answer — your score for this session is tracked automatically in the progress bar above.
What happens if I choose the wrong answer?
You'll immediately see which answer was correct, plus a full explanation covering the grammar rule and reasoning behind it — mistakes are where most of the learning happens.
Can I retry the exercises if I want a higher score?
Yes — use the "Try again" button on the results screen to reset and go through all the questions again.
Is my progress saved if I close the page?
No. Progress is tracked only for your current visit; reloading or leaving the page resets the counter. This keeps the exercise simple and account-free.
Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
Browse the full Grammar hub for related drills, or check the "Next up" link below to continue with a connected topic.
How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.