"probably have seen" or "have probably seen"?

Question

Can we say that one of the the following sentences is more correct than the other? Is there any difference in meaning?

1) As you have probably seen, in that article he advocates free trade.

2) As you probably have seen, in that article he advocates free trade.

Answer 1

They are both correct, and there is no difference in meaning.

I believe there was a very pedantic belief in the past the parts of the verb should be kept together (I happened to see an example in another question moments ago). This was related to the idea that led to the belief split infinitives were wrong. You can see a discussion here.

So just as past grammarians would have said one should not say 'to probably see', they would also have said to avoid 'have probably seen'. It was fake grammar, and has long been discarded.

The example I just saw in another question was 'one could never tell'. This is a common phrase, but is much more common as 'one never could tell' or 'you never can tell'.

Even the people who still bemoan split infinitives will usually not know or care about the more 'advanced' version of the 'don't split the parts of verbs' rule.

Answer 2

As you have probably seen....

As you probably have seen....

You usually use the adverb "probably" after the auxiliary of a main verb. The use of "probably" before the auxiliary is also correct.

So the first sentence is more common than the second one.