Indicating likelihood
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Using adverbials to indicate likelihood | page 4 of 5 |
Indicating low likelihood (weak possibility)
Adverbials which are commonly used to indicate low likelihood include:
| possibly | maybe |
| in theory | perhaps |
| at first sight | conceivably |
The adverbials in the following examples indicate low likelihood or weak possibility:
Cruelty to children ... maybe that comes from lack of knowledge.
In having an affair, we're not doing any harm to anyone else. We're not peppering the world with illegitimate children. The only people we could possibly mess up are ourselves, and that's our lookout. (Bank of English)
Speakers can use an adverbial such as in theory, at first sight in order to
distance themselves from responsibility for the truth or likelihood of the proposition 
.
Note that adverbials such as in theory and at first sight are typically
followed by "change of direction" markers such as but:
In theory, Ethiopia should be able to feed itself. But bad weather and war may combine to create yet another famine. (Microconcord Corpus A)
That seems attractive at first sight. But who decides what is unpursuable? Who says complainants were not pressured to withdraw? (SCMP 6/4/94)
Introduction
Indicating low likelihood
