Adverb placement?

["Geoff Hart" <geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca>]

Kathy Zaininger wondered << What is the correct (or preferred) 
placement of an adverb: preceding or following the verb it 
modifies?>>

Would that it were so simple; the correct answer is "it depends". In 
English, adverbs most commonly precede their verbs, and appear 
as close to the verb as feasible to ensure there's no confusion 
about what part of the sentence the adverb modifies. But that's not 
a rigid or rigorous rule; there are many exceptions that arise from 
usage (which often borrows from grammar without following it 
slavishly) and many cases where the placement makes little 
difference.

<<Which of the following statement is the correct (or preferred) 
usage:   A.  If you frequently use the Dictionary, you can.....  B.  If 
you use the Dictionary frequently, you can....>>

They both mean exactly the same thing, though there may be a 
very slight difference in emphasis. I'd give a slight nod to A, 
because a hasty or less-skilful reader might miss the comma in B 
and assume that the adverbial phrase is "frequently you can..." 
(That's particularly serious if the line break falls before "frequently".)

<<Sorry to clutter your Inboxes with such a basic question.>>

It's not so basic that it's not worth asking... ask anyone who is 
learning English as their second language about adverbs, articles, 
and other things we tend to take for granted and you'll see how the 
little things can trip you up.

--Geoff Hart @8^{)}  geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca  (Pointe-Claire, Quebec)
"If you can't explain it to an 8-year-old, you don't understand it"--Albert Einstein