Consider the following sentences:
- I'll move to the south by then probably.
- I'll probably move to the south by then.
- I'll move to the south probably by then.
Which of the three is correct. In my opinion, the third one is wrong. First two are correct with a small difference in their meaning.
First one makes my probability refer to the time when I'll be moving and the second one tells that there is still a chance that I might not move.
Am I correct?
Answer
Although normally called an "adverb", probably is often used to modify an entire sentence - in which case it normally appears at the beginning (or the end, if it's "parenthetically" added after a comma)...
a: Probably I'll move to the south by then.
b: I'll move to the south by then[,] probably.
In other contexts, syntactically it's more like an adjective than an adverb, in that it normally modifies the immediately following term...
c: I'll move probably to the south by then.
d: I'll move to probably the south by then.
Both of these imply that you will have moved by then (possibly to the north, but most likely to the south).
e: I'll move to the south probably by then.
Implies that you will move to the south (possibly much later, but most likely "by then").
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