Not everything in life is certain, therefore when we want to express that something may or may not happen it helps if
we are able to explain just how sure we are of this. This is called ‘predicting’ and can be used for positive or negative expressions.
For example:
Positive
I am sure you will enjoy the food in this restaurant.
This shows that you are expressing a strong sense of certainty that the person you are speaking to will enjoy the food served in the restaurant.
Negative
I am not a good cook, I doubt you will enjoy the food I have made for dinner.
The table below shows some common examples of predictive language. The percentages are approximate and are there to show the strength of the expressions. Notice the position of words like “definitely” and “almost certainly”- before “won’t”, but after “will”.
| It’ll definitely snow tomorrow. | 100% chance of snow |
| It’ll almost certainly snow tomorrow. It’s bound to snow tomorrow. |
90%-99% |
| It’ll probably snow tomorrow. It’s likely to snow tomorrow. |
80%-95% |
| It’ll possibly snow tomorrow. It might snow tomorrow. |
50%-80% |
| It might not snow tomorrow. | 20%-50% |
| It probably won’t snow tomorrow. It isn’t likely to snow tomorrow. |
5%-20% |
| It almost certainly won’t snow tomorrow. | 1%-5% |
| It definitely won’t snow tomorrow. | 0% chance of snow |
What are your predictions for your trip
to London? Why not write a short composition predicting what might and might not happen on your trip. Please be sure to include the new vocabulary from the table above…
