Indicating likelihood
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Using adverbials to indicate likelihood | page 2 of 5 |
Indicating high likelihood (certainty)
Adverbials which are commonly used to indicate high likelihood include:
| certainly | clearly | definitely |
| surely | undeniably | in fact |
| obviously | unquestionably | doubtless |
| undoubtedly | no doubt | without a doubt |
| of course | evidently |
The adverbials in the following examples indicate high likelihood or certainty:
Oh yes, certainly a good number of tunes have a really strong association for individuals and you can remember occasions with a piece of music, as it were, in the background. (Bank of English)
It was clearly a plan to crush the girl's will so she would not question Yuen's financial control over her in the future. (SCMP 31/7/92)
I think there's definitely a future for the small shopkeeper who gives good service and good value. (Bank of English)
Note that some adverbials have a tendency to occur more frequently in spoken English, eg certainly, in fact, obviously, of course, surely. Others are more common in formal or written English, eg clearly, evidently.
Introduction
Indicating high likelihood
