How does adverb placement affect the meaning of a sentence?

Question

I want to correct the following sentence so that it is grammatically correct and still conveys the original meaning:

Many alcoholics attempt to conceal their problem from their fellow workers, but invariably failing to keep their secret.

The bold-faced part of this sentence is where the error occurs.

It would be great if you guys could help me decide between these two choices.:

1 is good but lacks parallelism and is not as succinct (short and clear) as 2.

But the problem with 2 is its awkward adverb placement that might affect the original meaning.

I would use (3), ...but invariably fail to keep their secret. Preserves the parallelism and omits the superfluous they which simply refers to "many alcoholics". — Andrew Leach♦, Sep 15 '15 at 13:04
@AndrewLeach, what is the difference if the adverb is placed before and after "fail"? — most venerable sir, Sep 15 '15 at 13:12
As an opponent of split infinitives, I would parse fail invariably to keep as linking the adverb with keep rather than fail (that is, "but fail to invariably keep their secret" if the infinitive can be split), which is subtly different. — Andrew Leach♦, Sep 15 '15 at 13:15
The main problem with the sentence is not the placement of the adverb. It's the use of 'failing' instead of 'fail' — chasly from UK, Sep 15 '15 at 13:20

chasly from UK · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-15 13:31:38Z

2

but they invariably fail to keep their secret.

but fail, invariably to keep their secret.

is correct but would be better without the repeated 'they'. Note that 'invariably' qualifies 'fail', i.e. 'they invariably fail'.
is slightly odd because the comma places 'invariably' with 'keep'. The sentence now means that they don't keep their secret in an invariable manner. That has no meaning that I can understand.

Therefore the answer must be 1.

answered Sep 15 '15 at 13:31

chasly from UK

24.3k13275

In fail to keep invariably the secret, does invariably also modifies "keep"? Is it a rule that adverbs also modify verbs that are placed immediately after them? – most venerable sir Sep 15 '15 at 13:45
I would say that, purely because of the comma, 'invariably' only modifies 'keep'. That is why I say the sentence doesn't make sense that way. The presence of the comma separates the adverb from 'fail' and yet clearly 'fail' is the verb that makes sense. – chasly from UK Sep 15 '15 at 13:48
sorry I forgot to place the other comma. – most venerable sir Sep 15 '15 at 13:54
In that case I don't particularly like either option. However, at least they are both possible now. – chasly from UK Sep 15 '15 at 13:58

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1 Answer 1