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Whistle Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

"you really can" vs "you can really"

is there a difference between "you really can do sth" and "you can really"? or is the second one even correct?
another example is "you really want to do sth" and "you want to really do sth"
  

Top answer

I'm not sure how correct the usage is, I always feel very casual when I use "really", but I do use it commonly in both those scenarios. I perceive the difference to be this: "You really can [do something]" is strongly asserting that it's true that you can. "Really" is modifying the word can.

— Tara668

  • I'm not sure how correct the usage is, I always feel very casual when I use "really", but I do use it commonly in both those scenarios.
  • I perceive the difference to be this: "You really can [do something]" is strongly asserting that it's true that you can.
  • "Really" is modifying the word can.
  • " Whereas if you say "You can really [do something]" - for example, "You can really mess up someone's life", here "really" can be seen as modifying "mess up someone's life".
  • Now it's not necessarily only meaning "truly", but it's expressing a level of intensity.
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4 Answers
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I'm not sure how correct the usage is, I always feel very casual when I use "really", but I do use it commonly in both those scenarios.

I perceive the difference to be this:

"You really can [do something]" is strongly asserting that it's true that you can. "Really" is modifying the word can. So maybe someone heard that you couldn't do a certain thing, and you're telling them, "no
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whistle... you [really can] do ... you can [really do] ...
As explained in a previous post, the grouping is as shown above.

CJ
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thank you for the detailed answer
The original sentence was:

Discovering what you really want to do with your life isn't an easy task for anyone, nor is it something that you can really create a step-by-step guide for.
although i can see now, that there would be a clear difference for the first underlined sentence, it seems to me the position of "
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whistleit seems to me the position of "really" has less influence on the second one, somehow
Yes. That may be, but to my ear, the second usage of 'really' does apply to 'create' more that to 'can'. I suspect the diminished influence here is due to the negative 'nor' that occurs earlier.

CJ
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