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Which is more acceptable:

  • "probably be only" vs
  • "probably only be"

Feel free to exchange "may" for "probably".

Actual usage context

In reality, there will probably be only 1 element in the "mutations" array.

It feels slightly more natural to me having "only" as prefix to the numeric quantifier, especially if "probably" was eliminated.

mnemotronic
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    What's the focus? And are you speaking or writing? The speaking rule works for either, but the writing rule says it should go right before the focus, which in your case sounds like the numeric quantifier. – John Lawler Jan 19 '22 at 03:10
  • @JohnLawler John: Thanks for the link. It will take me several re-readings to comprehend that. The context here is written documentation (comments in some JavaScript). I'd say the focus is the "1 element ..." phrase. – mnemotronic Jan 19 '22 at 05:23
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    Then you done it right. Essentially it's a parsing problem. If you put only or some other focussing word higher up in the tree, it sets a flag to wait for the focus to appear. In speech this recognizes an intonation/stress signal, but in writing that's missing, of course, so the strategy is to not separate them in writing. – John Lawler Jan 19 '22 at 15:29

1 Answers1

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In my suggestion I would say that probably be only can indicate conditionm in that if only that is the case, while probably be only means that you just the one not any other.

jimm101
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Milcah Korir
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    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Jan 19 '22 at 07:08