[Grammar] possible vs. possibly

[vpkannan]

Hi,

1. A possibly repeated petition should be avoided.
2. A possible repeated petition should be avoided.

Are both of them correct?

Thanks.

 

[GoesStation]

They are both very unnatural, and neither sentence makes sense.

 

[Tdol]

What is the context and the intended meaning?

 

[vpkannan]

What is the context and the intended meaning?

A Government office is regularly accepting petitions from the general public to redress the grievances; however, they want to avoid the repeated petitions for the same grievance again and again. Now, the Government office wants to warn against the repeated petitions using one of the following instructions:

1. A possibly repeated petition should be avoided.
2. A possible repeated petition should be avoided.

which is right?

Thanks.

 

[vpkannan]

They are both very unnatural, and neither sentence makes sense.

If they are unnatural, please check the following sentences:

1. He is possibly a good candidate for the sales manager post in our office.
2. He is a possible good candidate for the sales manager post in our office.

Here, I just want to know the use of 'possible and possibly' in general and particularly in the context of the above sentences.

 

[GoesStation]

A Government office is regularly accepting petitions from the general public to redress the grievances; however, they want to avoid the repeated petitions for the same grievance again and again. Now, the Government office wants to warn against the repeated petitions using one of the following instructions:

1. A possibly repeated petition should be avoided.
2. A possible repeated petition should be avoided.

which is right?

Neither sentence makes sense. It would be much better to express the idea directly, in the active voice: Do not file petitions for a grievance for which you have already filed one.

This is unrelated to language, but the office will have more success reducing duplicate petitions if they provide an easy way for petitioners to track the process.

 

[vpkannan]

My question is whether 'possibly' or 'possible' should be used before another adjective grammatically/syntactically. Unfortunately, no answer has addressed that point. Instead, all are talking about whether the usage is natural or whether it makes sense, etc. Everything in a language need not be just natural, plain and simple; otherwise, nobody can write anything emphatic, poetic, figurative, etc.

 

[Roman55]

1. He is possibly a good candidate for the sales manager post in our office.
2. He is a possible good candidate for the sales manager post in our office.

In 1. possibly is an adverb and is modifying is.
In 2. possible is an adjective and is modifying (good) candidate.

 

[jutfrank]

My question is whether 'possibly' or 'possible' should be used before another adjective grammatically/syntactically. Unfortunately, no answer has addressed that point. Instead, all are talking about whether the usage is natural or whether it makes sense, etc.

Whether it makes sense is important.

But the answer to your question is that 1. is correct. possibly goes with repeated.

 

[GoesStation]

My question is whether 'possibly' or 'possible' should be used before another adjective grammatically/syntactically.

The adverb possibly can modify an adjective. The adjective possible can't.

 

[Tarheel]

I suggest:

He is a good candidate for the sales manager position in our office.

The use of "possibly" there says that you are not sure.

 

[Tarheel]

Note that government is not a proper noun.

 

[GoesStation]

Note that government is not a proper noun.

It is in certain contexts relating to parliamentary systems, I believe.