Adverbs of Certainty (definitely, maybe, probably)
A2
Ten common adverbs ranked from certain to uncertain, with placement rules and the sans doute trap
French has a finer probability scale than English
| Adverb | Force | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sans aucun doute | 100% | no doubt at all |
| forcément | 100% | necessarily |
| certainement | 90% | certainly |
| évidemment / bien sûr | 95% | of course / obviously |
| sûrement | 80% (often weaker in speech) | surely / probably |
| sans doute | 75% | probably (⚠ NOT "without doubt"!) |
| vraisemblablement | 75% | likely (formal) |
| probablement | 70% | probably |
| peut-être | 50% | maybe |
| sûrement pas / certainement pas | 0% | definitely not |
⚠️ The sans doute trap
- Il viendra sans doute. → He'll probably come (~75%, not certain).
- Il viendra sans aucun doute. → He'll come, no doubt at all.
This is one of the most common TCF reading-comprehension traps.
Placement
- Simple tense: after the verb (Il vient sûrement).
- Compound tense: between auxiliary and past participle (Il est sûrement venu).
- Verb + infinitive: before the infinitive (Il va sûrement venir).
peut-être has three positions:
- After the verb: Il viendra peut-être.
- Sentence-initial + que + indicative: ***Peut-être qu'*il viendra.
- Sentence-initial + inversion (formal): Peut-être viendra-t-il.
Wrong: Peut-être il viendra. (Needs que or inversion.)
Probability via verb tenses
- Il doit être malade. = he's probably ill (present devoir + inf = inference).
- Il aura oublié. = he must have forgotten (futur antérieur of probability, formal).
- Il viendrait demain. = he's said to be coming tomorrow (conditional of hearsay).
TCF tips
- sans doute ≠ certain. If a question asks the writer's certainty, this means probably.
- Sentence-initial peut-être always takes que or inversion.
- devoir + infinitive at present can mean inference, not obligation.