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Academy11+

11+ English · Topic explained

Fronted adverbials

How do great writers start a sentence without "The" or "I"?

The big idea

A fronted adverbial starts a sentence, tells you when, where or how, and is followed by a comma.

Picture it

A fronted adverbial sets the scene before the action: first when or where, then what happens.

Key words

adverbial
A word or phrase that works like an adverb: it tells you how, when or where.
fronted
Moved to the front of the sentence.
comma
Goes after the fronted adverbial, before the main clause.

Worked examples

  1. 1Warm-up

    Later, we went swimming.

    • Later tells us when.
    • It's at the front, so a comma follows it.
  2. 211+ standard

    Without a sound, the cat crept along the fence.

    • "Without a sound" tells us how.
    • A whole phrase can be a fronted adverbial.
  3. 311+ standard

    As the sun set, the bats appeared.

    • A subordinate clause can work as a fronted adverbial too.
    • It tells us when, and takes a comma.
  4. 411+ standard

    Under the old bridge, a troll was waiting.

    • Under the old bridge tells us where.

The common mistake

The mistake

"In the morning we left for the beach." (no comma)

Instead

"In the morning, we left for the beach."

Why: The comma shows where the fronted adverbial ends and the main clause begins, and 11+ markers expect it.

Where it comes up in the 11+

SPaG questions ask you to spot the fronted adverbial or add its comma, and good writing uses them to vary sentence openings.

The video

Video coming soon

We're making a short video that explains fronted adverbials step by step. Until then, everything it covers is on this page.

Free printable

Fronted adverbials worksheet

Practice questions on this topic to print and try on paper, at home or on the way to school.

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Quick quiz

Have a go first, then tap to see the answer.

  1. 1. Which is the fronted adverbial? "Every Saturday, Ruby visits her gran."

    • Every Saturday
    • Ruby visits
    • her gran
    • visits her gran
    Show the answer

    Every Saturday

    It's at the front and tells us when.

  2. 2. Which is punctuated correctly?

    • After a long wait, the bus finally arrived.
    • After a long, wait the bus finally arrived.
    • After a long wait the bus, finally arrived.
    Show the answer

    After a long wait, the bus finally arrived.

    The comma goes straight after the whole fronted adverbial "After a long wait".

  3. 3. What does the fronted adverbial tell us? "Nervously, Sam opened the letter."

    • when
    • where
    • how
    Show the answer

    how

    Nervously describes how Sam opened it.