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Adverbs of Certainty

This document discusses adverbs of certainty, which are used to indicate how sure or certain someone feels about something. Some common adverbs of certainty are definitely, probably, and maybe. They are usually placed before verbs but after modal verbs and forms of "to be". Negative sentences with adverbs of certainty can seem strange, as the adverb may need to be placed after an auxiliary verb or before the main verb. Adverbs of certainty can also be ordered based on the level of certainty they imply.

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435 views6 pages

Adverbs of Certainty

This document discusses adverbs of certainty, which are used to indicate how sure or certain someone feels about something. Some common adverbs of certainty are definitely, probably, and maybe. They are usually placed before verbs but after modal verbs and forms of "to be". Negative sentences with adverbs of certainty can seem strange, as the adverb may need to be placed after an auxiliary verb or before the main verb. Adverbs of certainty can also be ordered based on the level of certainty they imply.

Uploaded by

Tun Lin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Adverbs

ADVERBS OF CERTAINTY

Business English Success Perfect English


Adverbs of Certainty
Adverbs of certainty answer the question, “How sure?”
They tell us how certain or sure we feel about something.
They are placed after helper/modal verbs and before other verbs.
Negative sentences can seem strange at first.

Business English Success Perfect English


Adverbs of Certainty – Examples #1
They are usually placed before the verb.

➢Jane definitely went to work today.


➢Ted clearly needs a lesson in manners.
➢I certainly need a shower after going to the gym.

Business English Success Perfect English


Adverbs of Certainty – Examples #2
But they are placed after helper/modal verbs and ‘to be’.

➢I would certainly be upset if you forgot my birthday.


➢The train will probably arrive late again.
➢Martin is undoubtedly the smartest one here.
➢John has certainly forgotten our appointment.

Business English Success Perfect English


Adverbs of Certainty – Examples #3
Negative sentences with adverbs of certainty can appear strange.

Consider the following sentence:


➢It will definitely rain tomorrow.

Now make it negative – what do we do?


➢It won’t (will not) definitely rain tomorrow.
➢It will definitely not rain tomorrow.
➢It definitely won’t rain tomorrow.

Business English Success Perfect English


Adverbs of Certainty
There are many adverbs of certainty and they can be ordered.

Adverb of certainty Certainty Example

definitely 100% Those girls are definitely twins.

probably subjective values Rob’s not here – he probably went home.

maybe Maybe we should leave now.

probably not I will probably not get the promotion I was after.

definitely not 0% Suzi will definitely not come to the party.

Business English Success Perfect English

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