A Person's Character
(A) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them.
(B) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you actually talk with them.
(C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you directly talk with them.
Are these sentences all correct?
I'd appreciate your opinions!
(B) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you actually talk with them.
(C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you directly talk with them.
Are these sentences all correct?
I'd appreciate your opinions!
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But to say it like this:
"I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them directly."
Is more natural, and gets the full meaning across.
There is no fixed rule concerning the best position of an adverb in a sentence. (In the preceding paragraph, for example, I could have said "rephrase all of the sentences completely" instead.) In some cases, it helps to have an adverb close to a verb to avoid any ambiguity as to which verb it is modifying. In many cases, several positions are possible, and which ones sound most natural may vary from one speaker to another. There are some adverbs which tend to go before a verb rather than after it, and some which tend to go after it rather than before it. "Actually" cannot possibly come after "talk" in this sentence. I agree with Alkalyne-san that "directly" sounds best at the end of the sentence in this case, but I can't tell you why. When several different positions of an adverb are possible, there are sometimes differences in nuance. I think if you consider examples of Japanese sentences, you will find the same to be true of the positions of adverbs in them. I certainly know examples where the adverb could come either at the beginning of the sentence, or just before the verb, or just after the topic of the sentence.
I guess the reason "directly talk with them" is wrong is that it sounds "how to talk is direct."
Does this understanding seem right to you?
(C) I don't think you can know a person's character unless you talk with them directly.