'probably' VS 'likely'

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'probably' VS 'likely'
Message de josss posté le 24-08-2005 à 02:26:42 (S | E | F | I)
Bonjour tout le monde / Hi everyone !

Just a quick question:
I'm still struggling to get the difference, at least in use, between "probably" and "likely". I know one is used as an adverb, the second as an adjective, so the structure of the sentence is different:

They will probably leave the hotel.
=
They are likely to leave the hotel.

But is "likely" more academic in use, is it used more in writting than in speaking ? Are there any other differences ?

Thanks in advance to all of you

Joss, French man in Vancouver

Réponse: 'probably' VS 'likely' de jardin62, postée le 24-08-2005 à 17:13:56 (S | E)
Non , je ne pense pas qu'il faille leur attribuer une façon de s'exprimer spécifique.

Les modaux ont des équivalents:
- des adverbes: probably (pour exprimer l'éventualité)
- des expressions verbales: to be likely to (éventualité)
Ex : It may rain/ It will probably rain/ It is likely to rain/ Maybe it will rain

Réponse: 'probably' VS 'likely' de traviskidd, postée le 24-08-2005 à 17:22:37 (S | E)
Likely is an adjective, and it means "probable" (not "probably").

"It will probably rain tomorrow." = "It is likely/probable that it will rain tomorrow."

How likely is it that it will rain tomorrow?
It is quite likely; it quite probably will rain tomorrow.

(However, only events can be "probable". In your sentence "They are likely to leave the hotel", you can't replace "likely" with "probable".)

Likelihood = Probability (= Chance(s))

But "likelihood" and "chances" are used in a general sense, whereas "probability" refers more to an exact percentage.

The likelihood (chance(s)) that it will rain is (are) high; in fact, the probability is 97.3%.

Réponse: 'probably' VS 'likely' de josss, postée le 25-08-2005 à 00:25:36 (S | E)
Merci jardin62 et traviskidd pour ces réponses !

Thanks to traviskidd even though it was a bit tricky to get it.
Anyway I think I'll stick to "probably" since the structure of the sentence sounds more natural for my French mind.

See you, hasta luego...

Joss.

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Edité par josss le 26-08-2005 05:05

Réponse: 'probably' VS 'likely' de robine, postée le 25-08-2005 à 13:04:22 (S | E)
on parle tous anglais ici quand m'explique svp o__o"'

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