Which should come first: an adverb or a verb?

[Miss Mae]

I couldn't make heads or tails of this. When I wrote it last week, the verb came first to my mind. But when I typed it down, it occurred to me that the adverb should appear first. When I read it yesterday, it seemed the verb should really come first. Rereading it today, I changed my mind again.

What should really be the order of the verb and adverb in the following sentence (in the independent clause, at least)?

It also has oriented its staff to assist this kind of patients.

[Joe Carillo]

The order of the verb and the adverb in sentences like the following depends on the meaning intended by the writer:

(1) “It also has oriented its staff to assist this kind of patients.”

That sentence, with the adverb “also” ahead of the verb “has oriented,” means that the subject “it”—presumably a hospital—has done one or more things for other entities other than just orienting its staff to provide the indicated assistance.

Now let’s see what happens when the adverb comes between the verbal auxiliary “has” and the main verb “oriented”:

(2) “It has also oriented its staff to assist this kind of patients.”

This time, the meaning is that the hospital did one or more things to or for its staff other than just orienting them to provide the indicated assistance; except for its staff, there are no other entities for which the hospital has undertaken some other activity.

We must keep in mind that the adverb “also” is arguably one of the most versatile and slippery words in the English language. In that sentence, in particular, it could take the following other positions to denote other intended meanings:

(3) “Also, it has oriented its staff to assist this kind of patients.”
(4) “It has oriented its staff also to assist this kind of patients.”
(5) “It has oriented its staff to also assist this kind of patients.”

Sentence 3 means that the hospital has asked its staff to provide the indicated assistance in addition to doing other work or activities.

Sentence 4 means the same things as Sentence 3.

Sentence 5 means that the hospital asked its staff to also extend the indicated assistance to the kind of patients referred to.

When positioning “also,” we need to be alert to these semantic differences to be sure that our sentences will yield the precise meaning we want them to convey.

[Miss Mae]

At least, I ended with the right one. Thank you, Sir!

[franksteve311]

Adverbs of certainty go before the main verb but after the verb 'to be':

·        He definitely left the house this morning.

·        He is probably in the park.

With other auxiliary verb, these adverbs go between the auxiliary and the main verb:

·        He has certainly forgotten the meeting.

·        He will probably remember tomorrow.

[Miss Mae]

I must not have stopped even after knowing I was right.

I didn't know how I got it correct anyway. If I happen to be caught between an adverb and a verb again, what must I remember?

[Joe Carillo]

Adverbs of certainty go before the main verb but after the verb 'to be':

·        He definitely left the house this morning.

·        He is probably in the park.

With other auxiliary verb, these adverbs go between the auxiliary and the main verb:

·        He has certainly forgotten the meeting.

·        He will probably remember tomorrow.

Franksteve311, would you reconsider your grammar prescriptions in the light of the observations below about adverb placements?

1. It doesn’t look like adverbs of certainty should always go before the main verb:

“He definitely left the house this morning.”
“He left the house this morning, definitely.”

2. And it doesn’t look like adverbs of certainty should always come after the verb “to be” (“is,” “are,” “was,” “were,” “will be”):

“He is probably in the park.”
“He probably is in the park.”
“Probably he is in the park.”
“He is in the park probably.”

The four sentences above mean practically the same, only with different levels of emphasis.

3. Finally, with other auxiliary verbs, it doesn’t look like those adverbs should always go between the auxiliary and the main verb:

“He has certainly forgotten the meeting.”
“He certainly has forgotten the meeting.”
“Certainly, he has forgotten the meeting.”
***
“He will probably remember tomorrow.”
“He probably will remember tomorrow.”
“Probably, he will remember tomorrow.”

As in the alternative adverb placements in Item 2 above, the two sets of sentences above mean practically the same, only with different levels of emphasis.

So you might have made your grammar prescriptions too generalized and too restrictive.

What do you think?