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I saw a n old SE question about the difference between 'in particular' and 'particularly'. I understand the difference between the two, but my question is whether they can both be used in the same sentence.

eg: In particular, disease A is considered (to be?) particularly contagious.

Assuming that we were talking about many infectious diseases, the phrase 'in particular', I feel stresses on the disease and 'particularly' stresses on the severity of the contagiousness. Am I right? There are very few Google search results for sentences containing both these phrases.

I have three questions.

1) Can they be used in the same sentence or is it redundant?

2) Is the above sentence and my understanding of the nuances right?

3) (slightly off-topic) Does the sentence need the phrase in the brackets?

Thanks in advance.

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Let's contemplate:

  1. "In particular" is an idiomatic expression that means "in distinction from others" or "specifically". This expression usually refers to nouns and is set apart by a comma when it occurs at the beginning of a sentence or a phrase.
  2. "Particularly" means "in detail" or "to an unusual degree". It is an adverb, and as such it can be used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb but not nouns. It is not set off by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Both uses of particular have the same meaning, but are used in different ways. We could also say in specific and specifically (which is more formal but has the same meaning). ELB - English Lessons Brighton.

Often, particularly can also be used as an adverb in place of in particular to specify something individually. But in this case it is used relative to earlier details. Examples below have the same meaning:

  • The weather was bad this week, particularly on Wednesday.
  • The weather was bad this week, on Wednesday in particular.

Here, used in a relative clause (one that works relating to the main clause), particularly means specifically or especially, and is essentially the same as in particular. But if we used it in the main clause, the meanings of the two phrases would differ:

  • The weather was particularly bad this week. (The weather was worse than usual.)
  • In particular, the weather was bad this week. (The weather was one thing that was specifically bad, amongst other things.)

Note, though, that in particular can never be used in place of particularly to modify verbs.

Summing up, yes, we can use both words in a sentence:

  • In particular, disease A is considered particularly contagious. (Specifically, disease A is considered highly (unusually) contagious.)

Extra Info: "Considered" and "Considered to be" are interchangeable, however, "To be" is redundant)*. You can also say, "Considered as being"

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  • Good answer, but a couple of comments. "In specific" is not used in the same way as "in particular" at the start of a sentence. You could say "In specific cases ...", but not "In specific, cases ...", you should use "Specifically" if you want to say something like that (i.e. you don't separate off "in specific" by itself with a comma).
    – SteveES
    Commented May 23, 2017 at 9:52
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    Stylistically, it can sometimes be seen as bad form to repeat the same word too often within a small piece of text, so it might be preferable to replace one of the "particular" words with something else, like especially. (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with it, but if it were me I would probably use a synonym). On an additional stylistic note, while "to be" is not necessary, I think it sounds better when it is there.
    – SteveES
    Commented May 23, 2017 at 9:56
  • @SteveES You're right. I've checked the dictionary now
    – SovereignSun
    Commented May 23, 2017 at 9:58

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