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ESL forum >
Ask for help > adverbs of certainty placement
adverbs of certainty placement
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Ruwayda37
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adverbs of certainty placement
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Dear Colleagues,
I read that adverbs of certainty come after a positive auxiliary or modal but what if the sentence is short? Should it end in the modal or the adverb? For example �I probably will � or �I will probably �? |
3 Oct 2014
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yanogator
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For the full sentence, it is before the modal, but for the short one, it is after. I will probably go home soon. Will you be in tomorrow? I probably will. Bruce |
3 Oct 2014
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Ruwayda37
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Thanks, Bruce, but I think you mean:
For the full sentence, it is after the modal, but for the short one, it is before, right? |
3 Oct 2014
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ohermann
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Hi Bruce,
I�m not sure if I understand your comment - for the full sentence it is before the modal. You say this sentence: I will probably go home soon.
Where in this sentence is modal? I think "will" is auxiliary verb. But this is not confusing for me. The thing is which sentence is short and which one is full in your examples. Then words before and after in your explanation are a bit confusing. 
Oto
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3 Oct 2014
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yanogator
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Oto, Ruwayda37 corrected me correctly, and I meant auxiliary, rather than modal.
So, for the long version it is after the auxiliary, and before it for the short.
Some Fridays are more Friday than others.
Bruce |
3 Oct 2014
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Ruwayda37
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Thanks everyone for your help. One last question to Oto: Isn �t �will � the modal verb (or modal auxiliary verb) in Bruce �s sentence: I will probably go home soon �?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_verb |
3 Oct 2014
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ohermann
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Dear Bruce,
Ruwayda37 must have sent his reaction a moment before me, ie. I didn�t know it before. So my reaction hadn�t been meant to show you something twice in your comment or strenghten Ruwayda37�s comment. Sorry.
As for the question of the word "modal" - I didn�t realize it immediately that "will" is modal auxiliary, some of us usually use the word modals when we speak about can, could, must, may, might; and when we speak about will, do, did, etc. as auxiliary verbs. So, sorry again.  As Bruce wrote in his comment, it was Friday and I wrote my comment just before midnight.
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3 Oct 2014
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Peter Hardy
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Every verb that helps the main verb in any shape or form is called auxiliary. That �s what the word auxiliary means: help. As such, and only therefore, modals are auxiliary verbs. They �re special, alright, which makes them interesting. There behaviour is not always the same, which makes the language lively. With that in mind, I �d say both, depending on the emphasis of the subject. "Yes, I will, (slight pause) probably." Kind of second thought type comment. "Yes I probably will." When I can imagine the situation. That will probably clear up this question. Yep, it probably will. :-)
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4 Oct 2014
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Ruwayda37
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It has definitely cleared it up. It definitely has. |
4 Oct 2014
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yanogator
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I can certainly see that you understand it now. I certainly can.
I just realized that the rule is simple:
Adverbs of certainty come before the main verb of the sentence. When the modal is an auxiliary verb, it isn �t the main verb. In the short sentence, the modal is the main verb.
Bruce |
5 Oct 2014
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Ruwayda37
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Thanks a lot, Bruce. I do appreciate all my colleagues � help and support. |
5 Oct 2014
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