1

For example:

I did not respond physically

I did not physically respond

I can't escape the sense that #2 'strongly' leaves open the possibility (or implies) that the writer responded some way other than physically.

Whereas, #1 seems to rule out physical response and does not imply some other form of response.

Maybe it's just me, or am I describing something that's been analyzed before (and perhaps given a name)

Hal
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  • In your particular case it probably doesn't really make much difference - except that in the vast majority of cases, we'd follow the normal verb+adverb sequence. In something like "I spoke definitely" vs "I definitely spoke", there's definitely a difference. – FumbleFingers Jun 06 '13 at 02:59
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    It really depends on the adverb, and on the intonation as spoken. In writing, it's hard to tell what was intended. In general, if an adverb is in a less common place (like before a verb), it signals something. But what people might use it to signal is wide open, and must generally be inferred from the context and from experience with the speaker; guessed is probably a better term than inferred. Adverbs can nest in a lot of niches. – John Lawler Jun 06 '13 at 03:02
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    It works the other way around in "Christmas was not normally celebrated by our family" versus "Christmas was not celebrated normally by our family". Here the verb-adverb order strongly suggests that it was celebrated, but not in the normal way. – Peter Shor Jun 06 '13 at 03:03
  • @John Lawler, you consider adverbs places -before- their verbs to be less common than those placed after their verb? – Hal Jun 06 '13 at 10:33
  • No. Nothing that general. Every adverb is different. There are many different kinds of adverbs and adverb phrases and adverb clauses, and they all have different rules for placement, depending on many things. This is one reason why I often say that calling something an "adverb" tells you almost nothing about its grammar. – John Lawler Jun 06 '13 at 15:03
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    Related: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/9702/should-an-adverb-go-before-or-after-a-verb – Kit Z. Fox Jun 07 '13 at 00:07
  • @JohnLawler, your example is great. How did you find that? :-). Peter Shor et al., I am trying to think of other examples. "Happily" comes to mind: "was happily not celebrated" means it was fortuitous that Christmas was not celebrated. "Was not celebrated happily" means it was celebrated, but not in a happy manner. Others? – jbeldock Jun 09 '13 at 23:04

1 Answers1

-1

From a previous question, here are some rules of thumb.

I will state that your interpretations of the two sentences are correct. I believe the interpreted end result of moving the adverb before or after the verb will vary depending on the adverb and verb in question. And I think the differences are more apparent when the sentence is negative.

Community
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oceanfrog
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