| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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1. Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case
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| § 5. adverbs, position of |
| Adverbs can modify verbs, participles, adjectives, other adverbs, and even whole sentences. Because they have so many functions and they tend to modify the words they are closest to, it can sometimes be tricky positioning them to convey the exact meaning you want. This is especially true of certain adverbs like also, just, and only. Sentences with more than one verb also can pose difficulty. Which verb does rapidly modify in this sentence: His insistence that the new sales plan should be implemented rapidly increased the company’s profits? It is important to make sure that the sentences that precede one like this establish a context that leaves no room for ambiguity. It may be easier to rewrite the sentence to avoid ambiguity. Here are two possibilities for the previous example: His insistence on implementing the new sales plan caused the company’s profits to increase rapidly. Because he insisted on rapid implementation of the new sales plan, the company’s profits increased. | 1 |
| In initial position the adverb is usually followed by a comma: Suddenly, the train started moving. Many adverbs in initial position modify the entire sentence rather than the verb: Fortunately, Higgins survived the ordeal. Admittedly, the city could use a new library. Frankly, the Bruins don’t stand a chance in the playoffs. Strangely enough, a few of these sentence modifiers, especially hopefully, have been criticized by usage commentators for decades as grievous faults, while others like thankfully and mercifully have gone relatively unnoticed. For more on this, see
hopefully under Word Choice. | 2 |
| More at
also,
however,
not,
only, and
split infinitive. | 3 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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