# Grammar question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970 "2011-01-25T21:05:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/1 "2011-01-25T21:05:39Z")
Is there a word for putting the word “probably” in the wrong place in a sentence? I’ve seen and heard it done plenty of times and it drives me batty for some reason. For example: “Probably he’ll just get his car washed after it’s done raining” “Probably we can go to dinner when John get’s home” I’m not a grammar person, but in both those cases it seems the word probably should come after “He’ll” or “We can.” My question is, is there a name for this grammatical error? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/2 "2011-01-25T21:07:27Z")
Probably there is but I don’t know what. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/3 "2011-01-25T21:07:48Z")
I don’t think it’s an error, but just a change in emphasis. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/4 "2011-01-25T21:08:53Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Probably there is but I don’t know what. S’pose I walked into that one. ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/5 "2011-01-25T21:09:11Z")
I would say it’s a misplaced modifier. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/6 "2011-01-25T21:09:55Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I don’t think it’s an error, but just a change in emphasis. Really, but it just _sounds_ so wrong. To my ears it sounds as bad as saying something like “I seen it over there.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/7 "2011-01-25T21:14:45Z")
Yeah, I don’t think it is an error. (“get’s,” on the other hand…) “Probably” is an adverb, and adverbs are notoriously slippery creatures that can show up in all sorts of different places within a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/8 "2011-01-25T21:51:53Z")
I’ve see/hear this particular grammatical usage a lot with people for whom Spanish is their native language, and if I’m not mistaken, the adverb would be the appropriate way to start the sentence in Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/9 "2011-01-26T05:34:02Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Really, but it just _sounds_ so wrong. It sounds awkward, but awkward isn’t the same thing as wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/10 "2011-01-26T16:02:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Really, but it just _sounds_ so wrong. To my ears it sounds as bad as saying something like “I seen it over there.” To mine it sounds as wrong as people that put ‘anymore’ in the beginning of a sentence instead of at the end. I have a co-worker who does this and it drives me insane every damn time. Example: Anymore you just don’t get good customer service. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grammar-question/568970/11 "2011-01-26T20:28:44Z")
There’s no strict rule in English grammar about where adverbs (or adverb phrases) must be located, and they get to pretty much every location possible in the sentence. Often they begin the sentence. But they can be found at the end on occasion. They are commonly found right after the verb, but they sometimes slip between the subject and verb as well. You can find, perhaps jarringly, the adverb phrase between a verb and direct object. I have also seen an adverb right in the middle of the verb, in fact.