Modal adverbs are

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by ...

s, such as ''probably'', ''necessarily'', and ''possibly'' that express

modality Modality may refer to: Humanities * Modality (theology), the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations * Modality (music), in music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales * Modalit ...

, i.e., possibility, necessity, or contingency.

In English

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language ''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' (''CamGEL''The abbreviation ''CamGEL'' is less commonly used for the work than is ''CGEL'' (and the authors themselves use ''CGEL'' in their other works), but ''CGEL'' is ambiguous because it has ...

'' provides the following non-exhaustive list of modal adverbs at different levels of strength. Strong: ''assuredly'', ''certainly'', ''clearly'', ''definitely'', ''incontestably'', ''indubitably'', ''ineluctably'', ''inescapably'', ''manifestly'', ''necessarily'', ''obviously'', ''patently'', ''plainly'', ''surely'', ''truly'', ''unarguably'', ''unavoidably'', ''undeniably'', ''undoubtedly'', ''unquestionably'' Quasi-strong: ''apparently'', ''doubtless'', ''evidently'', ''presumably'', ''seemingly'' Medium: ''arguably'', ''likely'', ''probably'' Weak: ''conceivably'', ''maybe'', ''perhaps'', ''possibly''

Syntax and meaning

Modal adverbs often appear as

clause In language, a clause is a Constituent (linguistics), constituent or Phrase (grammar), phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic Predicate (grammar), predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject (grammar), ...

-initial

adjuncts In brewing, adjuncts are unmalted grains (such as barley, wheat, maize, rice, rye, and oats) or grain products used in brewing beer which supplement the main mash ingredient (such as malted barley). This is often done with the intention of cut ...

, and have scope over the whole clause, as in (1) with the adverb in bold. # ''Probably, the biggest push for corruption prosecutions came in the mid-2000s.'' This has the same meaning as (2) with the paraphrase using the

modal adjective Modal adjectives are adjectives, such as ''likely'', ''probable'' and ''necessary'', that express modality, i.e., possibility, necessity, or contingency. In English Modal adjectives can express modality regarding a situation or a participant in ...

(in bold).

''It is probable that the biggest push for corruption prosecutions came in the mid-2000s.''

Without the comma, the adverb has scope only over the NP only, as in (3).

''Probably the biggest push for corruption prosecutions came in the mid-2000s.''

This can be paraphrased as (4).

''It is probable that push for corruption prosecutions that came in the mid-2000s was the biggest such push.''

There is a tendency for modal adverbs to follow

auxiliary verb An auxiliary verb ( abbreviated ) is a verb that adds functional or grammatical meaning to the clause in which it occurs, so as to express tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany an infinitive verb or ...

s but precede

lexical verb In linguistics a lexical verb or main verb is a member of an open class of verbs that includes all verbs except auxiliary verbs. Lexical verbs typically express action, state, or other predicate meaning. In contrast, auxiliary verbs express gram ...

s, as shown in (5–8) with the adverbs in bold and the verb underlined.

''That's probably going to fail.''
''That probably failed because of poor planning.''
''It could possibly help me.''
''It possibly helped me.''

References

Linguistics Semantics Adverbs {{authority control

In English

Syntax and meaning

See also

References