Adverb sentence query



He is arguably the best actor of his generation



In the above sentence the adverb is placed just after "be" Can we use adverb after "be"? If we can use then please explain properly because I have studied that adverb can be used before adjective and adverb .



Answer



Please let us take a step back:


Consider: it is hoped versus hopefully.




  • It is hoped they will win the race.


    is not:


    Hopefully, they will win the race.


    People often use hopefully when they mean: it is hoped [that] etc.


    Think about this: "Hopefully, he will win the race." actually means: "He will win the race full of hope". This is often a problem in writing. In speech, people commonly use "hopefully" for "it is hoped". It seems to have taken over. I know, I use it and I know I am actually saying nonsense when I think about what I'm saying.




  • We sang the chorus hopefully and trundled off to dinner. [In other words, we had hope in our minds/hears when we sang the chorus].




The same is true of arguably (and many other adverbs as well): the actual intended meaning is:


- It can be argued that he is one of the best actors of this generation.


"Arguably" is used as a stand-in for "It can or may be argued that", I respectfully submit to you.


For me, hopefully and arguably actually often are stand-in for entire clauses in spoken language. If the people says it [on purpose], it's cool. But we wouldn't want our esteemed professors, their acolytes and others of this ilk, wherever they may be, to be writing hopefully in their papers and articles when, in fact, they mean it is hoped.


And here is an official dictionary entry on the matter: hopefully


That long explanation in the Merriam Webster states, among other things that:



The earliest “modern usage” of hopefully that we are aware of comes from the middle of the 17th century.



It also states, and this bears paying attention: "A sentence adverb modifies the meaning of an entire statement (as opposed to the adverb of manner, which modifies a single word or phrase)."


So hey, I call it a phantom clause but there may be some other fancy name for it. The point is it goes with an entire sentence and is not merely some adverb.


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