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I am constructing a sentence where a person wishes that an other person soon will visit her. Should this be written as:

She hoped he would come visit her shortly

or

She hoped he shortly would come visit her

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    Adverbs can often be put in many different places within a sentence, sometimes with different meanings. However, I don't think there is a difference in meaning in this sentence.
    – Vlammuh
    Jun 23, 2015 at 18:33
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    Either means the same thing, however in many cases the statement will be easiest to understand if you put the adverb after the verb it modifies.So I would go with "She hoped he would come visit (her) shortly." her is implied so it is optional.
    – user3169
    Jun 23, 2015 at 19:19
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    Isn't there a "to" missing between come and visit?
    – Daniel
    Jun 23, 2015 at 20:30
  • I'd change the second one to "She hoped he would shortly come to visit [her].", as when adverbs are placed before verbs, they're still usually placed after rather than before the first auxiliary in complex tenses. I'd still prefer your first version, though, as meanings are easier to decipher if the adverb clearly modifies the entire verbal phrase. I agree that 'her' is unnecessary in either sentence.
    – Jaime
    Feb 17 at 13:23

1 Answer 1

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Both are technically correct. But 'She hoped he would come visit her shortly' strikes as the correct one immediately. So, try to use the former, even though the latter is correct. After all, simplicity is important.

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