A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Chapter 17 - Adverbs in series
Sound symbols
When two or more adverbial expressions occur at the same time in final position in a sentence, a problem arises as to how they should be arranged. We find that English grammar is not usually permissive in this matter; in the majority of cases, the order is fixed according to a rule, though the rule may be complicated to state.
Adverbs of manner and place. In this combination, the order is likely to be determined by the “heaviness” of the two elements. (The heavy element goes last.) A short adverb of manner ending in -ly ordinarily precedes a prepositional phrase expressing place.
He walked slowly to the door.
I sat down quietly in the back row.
There is “lighter” than a -ly adverb, and precedes it.
We walked there slowly.
If there are two phrases of equal weight, either order is allowed.
He walked with some reluctance to the front of the classroom. (or: to the front of the classroom with some reluctance.)
Adverbs of place and time. English syntax prefers that adverbs of place be put ahead of adverbs of time, and this word order is almost always correct. In some cases, when the two elements are of equal weight, the reverse order is also possible.
When be is followed by an expression of location, the latter functions as a complement of be. Be is not ordinarily separated from its complement except by adverbs of frequency and other adverbs that can occur in medial position.
They live there now.
He works at home in the morning.
We will be there soon.
I went to the dentist this morning.
In the case of phrases of equal weight, either word order is allowed.
I’ll meet you in a little while in front of the library, (or: in front of the library in a little while.)
An adverb of time has to be placed ahead of an adverb of place when a short time expression and a long phrase expressing place occur together.
They’re living this summer in the house that we used to live in. (but: They’re living in our house this summer.)
Adverbs of manner, place, and time. When all three types occur together, manner comes before place and time.
The children played enthusiastically on the swings all morning.
The dog is sitting unhappily outside the door right now.
Some variation is possible, depending on complex factors of connectedness between the various elements and their “weight”:
Charles goes to school happily in the morning.
Go to school is closely connected in meaning, and therefore an expression of place can precede an adverb of manner.