رضا:
1. There is no grammatical problem with using the word loosely in that sentence, but it is a somewhat odd thing to want to say. I agree with ScarletRose that forms (1) and (3) sound most natural. I also agree that a scholar probably wouldn't use that sentence -- not because it's grammatically wrong, but simply because a scholar who wishes to insult someone can probably do so with more sophistication than the average twelve-year-old.

2. The reason why you wouldn't say something like "He may probably have gone out" is not that may and probably mean the same thing, but that they mean different things. If I say "He probably has gone out," I mean that I believe he has gone out (although it is possible that he has not), or at least that I think it is more likely that he has gone out than that he has not gone out. If I say "He may have gone out" I simply mean that it is possible that he has gone out; I'm not necessarily saying anything about how likely it is. If you used both words together, I wouldn't know what you were trying to say.

3. Regarding the word already, (1), (3) and (4) are all fine. I wouldn't say that (2) is strictly wrong, but it sounds strange. I think this is because in (2) it feels like the adverb already is attaching itself to may rather than to have gone.

4. Usually at the end of a movie you'll see the names of the director, producers, actors, camera operators, costume designers, set decorators, etc. This portion of the movie is called the "credits", because all these people are given credit for their roles in making the movie. Credits at the end of a movie are called "end credits"; credits at the beginning are "opening credits".

KotDB: Thank you for your thorough explanation. I really really thought may and probably had the same meaning. So they do cause different impressions when used. Knowing this, I will look for some words that I think are the same, and will post them here to see if they are or are not the same after all!

Since in Iran the teachers are not native speakers, students never get to know the small subtle points of the language.

About that movie, well let me share the whole thing with you so that you can have abetter understanding of the situation:

It starts with a man in a room, having a strange device around his neck. It looks like a sphere having been cut into two halves. One half is in front of his face, the other, at the back. And the two of them are full of nails that are pointed towards his face. Then suddenly a T.V. is turned on and we see a clip. In the clip a doll, with the voice of a man says:

Hello Michael.

I want to play a game.

So far, in what could loosely be called your life, you have made a living watching others.

Society would call you an informant, a rat, a snitch.

I call you unworthy of the body you possess...

of the life that you've been given.

Now, we will see if you are willing to look inward...

rather than outward...

To give up the one thing you rely on...

in order to go on living.

The device around your neck is a death mask.

The mask is on a spring timer.

If you do not locate the key in time...

the mask will close.

Think of it like a Venus flytrap.

What you are looking at right now is your own body...

not more than two hours ago.

Don't worry.

You're sound asleep and can't feel a thing.

Taking into account that you are at a great disadvantage here...

I am going to give you a hint as to where I've hidden the key.

So listen carefully. The hint is this...

it's right before your eyes.

[ And we see an X-ray photo of Michael's head with the key inside it. The key has been put in fron of one of his eyes.]

How much blood will you shed to stay alive, Michael?

Live or die. Make your choice.



So I guess now you know why that adverb, loosely, has been used. I think the speaker on that T.V. means that being and informant i snot really a job and a person who does that, doesn't actually live a normal life, but a low-level life. So he calls it a loose life. Of course that's what I get from that sentence.

About the position of an adverb in sentences with multi-word verbs, one of the members of this site once mentioned to me that it shouldn't break the verb. So I guess I'd want to know if in a sentence such as "He may already have gone out" which part is the verb.

Is the verb gone, or gone out, or have gone, or have gone out, or may have gone, etc.?

And, thanks for that info on End Credits and Opening Credits. I really was beginning to think by End Credits they meant we shouldn't expect any Saw III. So I guess I'll be eagerly looking forward to watching Saw III, if they make any.

Thanks again for your post.

رضا: So I guess now you know why that adverb, loosely, has been used. I think the speaker on that T.V. means that being and informant i snot really a job and a person who does that, doesn't actually live a normal life, but a low-level life. So he calls it a loose life. Of course that's what I get from that sentence.

Interesting. My interpretation (a portuguese speaker, not an english native speaker) was not that it was a loose life but that it could hardly be called a "life". So, to call it a "life" the speaker has to give a very loose interpretation to the word so it could be used in the sentence. It's a figure of speach, a way for the speaker to say that the character's way of life is not worthy of being called so.

...

I think that what applies to your sentence is the <h ref="http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/past-pa
rticiple.html">Contional Perfect. But I'm no english schollar so I wouldn't know how to evolve from that page :P