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?