WAEC 2023 English Language · Question 54

The footballers have been practising … .

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences. The footballers have been practising __________.

A.in the stadium hard all morning
B.all morning in the stadium hard
C.all morning hard in the stadium
D.hard in the stadium all morning

Answer: D. hard in the stadium all morning

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question: This tests the order of adverbials (adverbs and adverbial phrases) in a sentence. The verb is "have been practising," and we need to arrange the manner, place, and time adverbials correctly.

Concept: When several adverbials come after a verb, the usual order in English is:

Manner → Place → Time

Manner (how?): hard
Place (where?): in the stadium
Time (when?): all morning

Solution:

A. in the stadium hard all morning: Place → Manner → Time. Wrong, because manner should come before place.
B. all morning in the stadium hard: Time → Place → Manner. This is the reverse of the normal order, so it is wrong.
C. all morning hard in the stadium: Time → Manner → Place. Time should come last, so it is wrong.
D. hard in the stadium all morning: Manner → Place → Time. This follows the correct order.

The correct sentence is: **"The footballers have been practising hard in the stadium all morning.

Tip: Remember the order "How, Where, When" (Manner, Place, Time). Many WASSCE and JAMB "arrangement of words" questions use this rule, so check each option against it.

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