Also will / will also ?

Question

Is there a preferred order to the following sentences? He also will go to the store. He will also go to the store.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

"He will also go to the store." if you mean that he will go to the store in addition to doing other things.

If you mean that he, in additional to other people, will go to the store, the better choice is

"He, too, will go to the store."

Dohlman · Answer

"Sunglasses also can help reduce a person's risk of cataract."

Sunglasses, in addition to other things, can help reduce the risk of cataract.

"Sunglasses can also help reduce a person's risk of cataract."

Sunglasses can help reduce the risk of cataract and can do other things, as well.

Correct?

CalifJim · Answer

[ Subject + ALSO + Modal ], as in your first sentence, is not really idiomatic written English. Informally, in spoken English, you could make yourself understood by saying "sunglasses also" as if it were one word and by stressing "also". ( SunglassesALso can help ...) The only way I can think of to express the meaning you're looking for is to resort to "Sunglasses, too, can...", unless you want to rephrase it as "Sunglasses are another way to help reduce ... ".

The second pair is fine. You've captured the meaning.

A small, final point: We English speakers say "cataracts" (plural) in this context.

Miriam · Answer

Hi, Dohlman.

"Also" may cause confusion or misunderstanding depending on its position in a sentence.
This adverb will usually:

a) precede a focused part in a predicate. For example:
"Sunglasses also can help reduce..." may mean that sunglasses can help reduce the risk of cataracts besides doing something else. You can say "Sunglasses will protect your eyes from direct sunlight. They also can help..."

"Sunglasses can also help..." may mean that they can do something else besides helpind reduce the risk of cataracts.

b) follow a focused subject. For example (a silly one, but I hope it will illustrate my point!):
"Your eyelids will protect your eyes from the sunlight. Sunglases also can protect your eyes."
In the second sentence, the focus is on "sunglasses" (the subject), since the predicate is the same as in the first sentence.

Does it make sense?

Miriam

Dohlman · Answer

[ Subject + ALSO + Modal ], as in your first sentence, is not really idiomatic written English.

A small, final point: We English speakers say "cataracts" (plural) in this context.

Well, subject + also + modal didn't seem right, but an editor had changed it (who's a lot older), so I thought there was some ancient grammar rule that applied. LOL

I'm working on a contract for the National Eye Institute, and we use cataract in the singular form, since one can get a single cataract. It's a common usage in the medical community, although I have seen it used as both plural and singular.

Dohlman · Answer

"Sunglasses also can help reduce..." may mean that sunglasses can help reduce the risk of cataracts besides doing something else. You can say "Sunglasses will protect your eyes from direct sunlight. They also can help..."

"Sunglasses can also help..." may mean that they can do something else besides helpind reduce the risk of cataracts.

Say...how do you get quotes on this board?

"also can--...can help reduce the risk of cataracts besides doing something else."

"can also--they can do something else besides helping reduce the risk of cataracts."

This sounds like the same thing to me.

CalifJim · Answer

Sorry. I'm not old enough to know any ancient grammar rules! ([

] I'm not admitting it, anyway.)

I don't normally see questions involving the use of words in technical fields, but it's nice to know the bit about "cataract". You mention <>. Are you sure that's the origin of "cataract" in the singular? I ask because it has the flavor of many other "disease words", which are usually singular: He's got appenicitis - and pneumonia - and cataract. So I sense (Don't ask me why!) that "cataract" is not derived from "(a single) cararact", but from "(the) cataract (condition/disease)".

Picky, picky point.

Miriam · Answer

Hello again, Dohlman.

Sorry, it seems my post was not very clear.

Let's see if I can make it better?

1. "Sunglasses will protect your eyes from direct sunlight. They also can help reduce the risk..."
2. "Sunglasses can protect your eyes from direct sunlight. They can also help reduce the risk..."

In example #1, the focus is on "can" ("can" is not mentioned in the first sentence, it is introduced in the second).
In example #2, the focus is on "help". "Can" is already mentioned in the first sentence, so there's no need to place "also" before "can" in the second. The emphasis is on "help".

You are right. I've just noticed, after rereading it, that my original explanation of the second example was a bit obscure.

The difference between examples #1 and #2 lies in the part of the sentence on which the focus is, and that difference is very subtle really. No significant difference in meaning is involved in this particular case.

Miriam

Dohlman · Answer

CalifJim, you may very well be right, and that thought crossed my mind...cataract as a group noun/condition. I just went with the explanation that was foremost in my mind at the time. It would be interesting to research the origin.

Miriam, thank you so very much for your explanations. You are very knowledgeable, and such a peach!

Anonymous · Answer

It depends ...

If there are two people (Jack and Jill), and Jill said she was going to the store and John decided to tag along, then "he also will go to the store." (also, in addition to Jill).

If Jack was planning to go other places (to the movies, to a friend's house, to the top of a hill) and decided to pick up some groceries, then "he will also go to the store" (also to the store, in addition to the other places).

Also will / will also ?

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