Q. I am taking a medical transcription class, where the teacher constantly states the adverbs before the main verbs in the sentence. When I correct this in the transcript, I get it counted wrong. According to the AAMT book of standards this should be corrected, so the doctor does not sound illiterate. The teacher states that the following is incorrect: It has actually been only ten months since I last saw him, but he unexpectedly was scheduled sooner than he had planned. She says it should be typed: It has actually been only ten months since I last saw him, but he was unexpectedly scheduled sooner than he had planned. Please give me some advice.
A. Contemporary grammar books dismiss the AAMT’s rule as a bugaboo. CMOS 5.171 says, “There has never been a rule against placing an adverbial modifier between the auxiliary verb and the principal verb in a verb phrase. In fact, it’s typically preferable to put the adverb there {the heckler was abruptly expelled} {the bus had been seriously damaged in the crash}.” And let’s hope no one’s life ever depends on adverb placement.