+++Alex

Tatiana, that’s Russian syntax, not English.

Came up to a phone? Seriously Tatiana?

Даже не THE phone 😳

Also, wrong placement of “yet” in your translation, Tatiana.

I called him several times, but nobody answered. Probably he hasn’t returned yet.

Tamara: HE PROBABLY hasn’t returned yet 😉

I disagree with you! Read the rules

Both variants are correct👌

Alexander, It was the comment on the words of a strange person, who considers himself a beehive

There are two options He PROBABLY... and PROBABLY HE...

“Probably ” is often used to modify an entire sentence - in this case it normally appears at the beginning of the sentence.

Got it, thanks.
However, teaching a native speaker, professional linguist and translator - isn’t it too conceit?

Alexander, I don’t teach him. I’m not a native speaker. I’m a professional linguist, a translator and a teacher of three languages. I only explain My version.

That’s it

Great! Let’s see WHAT language are you going to teach us on here ☺️

Tamara, the word PROBABLY goes in front of the phrase it modifies - in this case “hasn’t come back yet.” If you put it at the beginning of the sentence, it looks like you mean that probably HE hasn’t come back yet, but someone else has. Unfortunately, that’s not the meaning of this post. Read it again and decide what portion of the sentence you want to modify with PROBABLY.

This is why you usually see PROBABLY as the second element in a sentence, after the subject, because it most often modifies the verbal portion of the sentence, and English is, after all, a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language. This second position has a name. It’s called the Wackernagel position. You can read about it here: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BA%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8F There, you’ll learn that the phrase of the sentence (not the word!) that bears the contextual emphasis will be preceded by PROBABLY: He | probably | HASN’T COME YET.

I hope this has sufficiently explained why your version sounds awkward to the native ear. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. In parting, I’ll leave you with a helpful Ngram to remind you of your progress here today: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=probably+he+has+not%2Che+probably+has+not&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cprobably%20he%20has%20not%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Che%20probably%20has%20not%3B%2Cc0

💪

Funny enough, not all words are subject to Wackernagel's law. For example, Alex's translation is perfectly correct with MAYBE at the beginning of the sentence. Words that sound better in Wack. position tend to sound more categorical: Maybe he hasn't come back yet (=this is a possibility to consider); He maybe hasn't come back yet. (=perhaps you should be considering this possibility instead of panicking!). Sometimes I turn off the alarm clock and sleep an extra hour (=I believe it's healthy to listen to your body sometimes and give it extra rest if you need it). I sometimes turn off the alarm... (=I'm a little concerned that I do this - it's unconscious and I end up being late for work or missing work altogether. I think I need help).

This is an important distinction with some words because it explains why we use them or don't use them - or better yet, WHY and WHEN we use them. For instance, we don't like to use OFTEN casually in English for the sake of merely saying OFTEN. It's too categorical. We prefer A LOT because it's less dramatic. However, because of the categorical nature of OFTEN, it sounds perfect in Wack. position: In the summer, we go to the beach often. (=sounds a little stiff and literary) -but- In the summer, we('ll) often pack up the kids and the dog and spend an entire day at the beach (= this happens more frequently than you'd imagine as a spur of the moment decision - we just say "hey, let's go to the beach!" and go). You can now appreciate how this differs from the factual and neutral "In the summer, we go to the beach often." (= just a fact, and a boring one at that).

Adverbs of certainty express how certain we feel about an action or event. Adverbs of certainty go before the main verb unless the main verb is 'to be', in which case the adverb of certainty goes after. “He is probably in the park.”

If there is an auxiliary verb, the adverb of certainty goes between the auxiliary and the main verb.
“He will probably arrive tomorrow.”

Sometimes these adverbs of certainty can be placed at the beginning of the sentence. “Probably, he has forgotten the meeting.”

Maybe it sounds strange for a native speaker, but according to the rules, we can’t consider this sentence as incorrect.

I don’t want to offend you. That’s my vision.

Adverbs of certainty in some grammar books are called adverbs of probability. Different authors explain the rules from different points of view. I agree, that your variant is correct.

Maybe it sounds strange TO a native speaker

Tamara, the fact that something sounds strange to a native speaker already means that this particular something is wrong.

If a supposedly Russian professional linguist and whatever thinks they know English better than an American linguist, something is wrong with them.

Tamara, I never said it was incorrect, but it’s certainly marked. The difference between you and me is that you go by rules and I go by native intuition, which never fails. I’m sure I could quote rules of Russian grammar to you until I’m blue in the face, but if something doesn’t sound right to you as a native Russian speaker, then there would be no convincing you otherwise. The same applies here. If I was talking to a native English speaker and they said “Probably, he hasn’t come back yet,” I would have to stop and look over at them to make sure they weren’t trying to be funny and sound foreign or something. But if the rules work for you, by all means - stick with them. You won’t “offend” me. I’m here for those who actually want to take their English to a level ABOVE the published “rules.” Languages live on the lips of their speakers, not in books. Languages change too fast to be properly documented in black and white. Context and emotional input are much more important to expression.

Putting PROBABLY in the Wackernagel position adds a flavor of “the thing is...” to the statement. You don’t get that by just putting PROBABLY, at the beginning of the sentence. (Aside from the fact that PROBABLY just sounds weird there).

Holy, AmE and BrE are not the same! And the use of Grammar is different. "For me" is to express its effect on you or it's benefit for you, whether it's good or bad.

"To me" is more to express opinion.

Ex: That's difficult for me. That sounds difficult to me.

I agree with you! I respect you and what you do! Thank you for your opinion! I used to work with native speakers from America and from The UK, their variants of English differ a lot. Opinions differ.

Opinions differ on things that are flexible. Certain aspects of language are intrinsic and have little or no wiggle room. It’s not about opinions - it’s about what’s natural. I could have an opinion about Russian, but it wouldn’t make something unnatural natural - it would only be my opinion. HolyMoly is absolutely correct. It sounds strange TO you, not for you. This is quite distinct from difficult FOR you. One sounds strange TO YOUR EAR, and the other is difficult FOR YOU TO DO. Tamara, you seem to want to have the last word. My advice to you is that you open your mind. You seem to believe that having worked with English speakers has somehow instilled a mastery of English that makes you impervious to instruction. Even native language speakers are constantly learning their own language. Instead of arguing with us, you should be learning with us. If you look at HolyMoly and Tatiana’s comments, their English is exceptional. That comes from a position of less teaching and more learning.

People are taught to be a teacher even of their own native language. Are you a teacher of English?

Read the rule here, please. “Advanced grammar in Use”(Martin Hewings) 3rd edition Unit 78 p156

Comment adverbs(adverbs of probability) often apply to the whole sentence and are most frequently used in front position, although they can also be used at the end of the sentence and in other positions.

>>Holy, AmE and BrE are not the same! And the use of Grammar is different.

Hahaha, I knew you were going to throw this "AmE and BrE are different" bomb eventually😀
I hate to break it to you, Tamara, but this rule works equally for both BrE and AmE. Things can only sound (and look/seem/smell too, for that metter) fine/natural/unnatural/weird/ok/odd/difficult etc. TO you.

>>Read the rule here, please. “Advanced grammar in Use”(Martin Hewings) 3rd edition Unit 78 p156

Wait, oh no... referring to grammar books and BrE/AmE differences... Professor, is it you again?

>>People are taught to be a teacher even of their own native language. Are you a teacher of English?

He has a DEGREE in English linguistics! Go try to argue with a Russian linguist about Russian grammar😂

I'm now looking at Unit 78, page 156 of the third edition. And I'm absolutely loving how you tried (and failed utterly, sorry) to manipulate the rule 😂

Shall I post a screenshot of the page 156 here? :)

You can tell a real idiot because they deal in rules and books. Language is an instinct. Tamara obviously doesn’t have that instinct and hasn’t learned it. Hence the need to refer to rules and books. It’s actually quite pitiful .

Olga, I think you’re right… This is sounding more and more like our dear Professor whiskeydick!

Some time ago he stated he taught English to Americans in a US University. Can anyone recall what was his name then?

People like you, Moly, live here, teach here and know “everything” here. If your language is only an instinct...why did you attend school? University? What are the sources you learn the Correct language from?

I see ... you have your own teachers “I know everything”. If you are a professional linguist, a successful one, what are you doing here? I suppose you are not good at Russian enough to be able to translate these sentences and to speak about emotional colouring(coloring in AmE)! You are not a God! You used to study at school, you learn from books! Not from strange people from social networks. You look like a white raven...Good luck!

Sorry for cutting in, Tamara, I just wanted to ask YOU: what is the purpose of YOUR being here on Lingvo Live?

>>People like you, Moly, live here, teach here and know “everything” here. If your language is only an instinct...why did you attend school? University? What are the sources you learn the Correct language from?

I'm sorry, what are you talking about? I joined this community 5 years ago. I came here to help people learn the proper English, because every day I see the flaws that our English teaching system has. I learnt the language through my life. Still learning. Sure I was lucky like that. Had this opportunity to learn from native speakers. I came here to share my knowledge, same thing Uly did, Tatiana, Alexander, grumbler and others. And I'm proud of this wonderful job my friends've been doing here all these years.

👍
Тамара, хотелось бы узнать в каком университете Вы преподаёте? Простите за любопытство, но мы здесь видели немало самозванцев. А с Вашим уровнем языка, я думаю, Вам нечего стыдиться.

>>А с Вашим уровнем языка, я думаю, Вам нечего стыдиться.

Tatiana, I'd say this is arguable.
"You used to study at school", seriously?

Very arguable. Her English is alright, but lacks the emotive element of someone who dominates the language rather than the language dominating them.

And there are definite mistakes.

And again:
Tamara, what is the purpose of YOUR coming here to Lingvo Live?

That was an amazing piece of writting. I think you should also write about leather jackets.
https://zingapparel.com/products/hell-on-wheels-cullen-bohannon-vest