definitely vs. certainly | WordReference Forums

Use surely to say that you think something must be true, especially when other people do not agree • They should be there by now, surely. Use ... Forums Dictionarysearch:  English-Spanish English-French English-Italian English-German English-Dutch English-Russian English-Portuguese English-Polish English-Romanian English-Swedish English-Czech English-Greek English-Turkish English-Chinese English-Japanese English-Korean English-Arabic Spanish-English French-English Italian-English German-English Dutch-English Russian-English Portuguese-English Polish-English Romanian-English Swedish-English Czech-English Greek-English Turkish-English Chinese-English Japanese-English Korean-English Arabic-English Spanish-French Spanish-Portuguese Spanish-Catalan French-Spanish Portuguese-Spanish Englishdefinition Englishsynonyms Englishcollocations Englishusage Italiandefinition Spanishdefinition Spanishsynonyms Catalandefinition Spanish French Italian Login Register What'snew Search Rules/Help/FAQ Members InterfaceLanguage Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. definitelyvs.certainly Threadstarter Sane Startdate Feb28,2008 S Sane Member Bengali Hewillcertainly(ordefinitely?)voteforY. Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthesewordsandtheirusage?   bibliolept SeniorMember NorthernCalifornia AE,Español Theycanbeconsideredsynonymous.   xebonyx SeniorMember TR/AR/EN Ithink"definitely"hasamore"endall"connotationtoit(youhavealltheinformation,lesssubjective),soIwouldn'texchangethetwosofreelyinallcases. "Wow,soshe'sdefinitelycomingalongwithusonthetrip?" "Wow,soshe'scertainlycomingalongwithusonthetrip?"-Soundsawkward. "CanIusethebathroomnow?" "Youmostcertainlycan!"(Affirmative.Youaregivenpermission). "Youmostdefinitelycan!"(Weknowthatyouareabletousethebathroom).   Wilma_Sweden SeniorMember Lund,Sweden Swedish(Scania) Iwoulduse'definitely'forsomethingthatwillbetrueinthefuture,'certainly'forsomethingwhichistruenow.SeealsoLongman'sexplanation: surely,definitely,certainly,naturally,besureto Use surely tosaythatyouthinksomethingmustbetrue,especiallywhenotherpeopledonotagree •Theyshouldbetherebynow,surely. Use definitely tosaythatsomethingiscertaintohappenorbetrue •Iwilldefinitelybeback(NOTIwillsurelybeback)byten. Use certainly toemphasizethatsomethingistrue •Hecertainlyis(NOTsurelyis)agreatcook. Use naturally tomean'asanyonewouldexpect' •Theywereverylate,sonaturallyIwas(NOTsurelyIwas)worried. Use besureto tosaythatsomethingiscertaintohappen •Ifyouworkhardyouaresuretosucceed(NOTyouwillsurelysucceed). Clicktoexpand... TherearemoreexamplesinsideLongman'sonlinedictionaryifyousearchanyoftheabovewords,sodocheckthemout! /Wilma   Scherle SeniorMember Manila,Filipinas Filipino,andEnglish Sanesaid: Hewillcertainly(ordefinitely?)voteforY. Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthesewordsandtheirusage? Clicktoexpand... Definitely   S Sane Member Bengali Thanks. WhatIfindinterestingisthatthedictionariesthatIuse(RandomHouseCollegeandMacmillan'sNewWorldCollege)donotputthemtogether--onesynonymouswiththeother.NoteventheNewWorld'sbigThesaurus!   M mustang72 SeniorMember Austin,TX SwissGerman Iuseitasfollows: definitelyissomethingdefinite;beyondanydoubts;100%likely whereas certainlyissomethingcertain;havingnodoubts;99%likely HewilldefinitelyvoteforY.-Nowayinhellhe'llvoteforsomeoneelse HewillcertainlyvoteforY.-Iwouldn'tknowwhyhe'dvoteforsomeoneelse   bibliolept SeniorMember NorthernCalifornia AE,Español Inyouroriginalexamplesentence,theymeanthesametome.Themoreidiomaticchoicevariesfromsentencetosentence,asyoucanobservefromthetextquotedby"Wilma-Sweden."   snorklebum SeniorMember Mexico MexicoEnglish Itwouldbeverydifficulttocomeupwithasentenceinwhichthesewordswouldn'tbeinterchangeable.   HarryBatt SeniorMember Minneapolis USAEnglish Well,Ithink"certainly"hasaringofhopeinit.Eg.,WewillleaveinahourandshouldcertainlybeinDetroitinthemorning."Ifitisa700miletripthelistenerisgoingtobedoubtful.But,eg.,"WhenBillandIdrivestraightthrough,wecandefinitelymakeittoDetroitin12hours."Thestatementisbackedupwithfact. ThatistheonlydifferencethatIcanrecallatthemoment;thatdefinitelyhasthestrongermeaning.   nzfauna SeniorMember Wellington,NewZealand NewZealand,English Thereisnodifferenceinmeaning.Anydifferenceinuseispersonalorregionalpreference.   snorklebum SeniorMember Mexico MexicoEnglish Exactly.Andyoucanadd"surely"tothelist.   T ThomasTompion SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-England Iwishthepeoplewhosensenodifferencewouldaddressthemselvestoxebonyx'sexamplesinpost3: "Wow,soshe'sdefinitelycomingalongwithusonthetrip?" "Wow,soshe'scertainlycomingalongwithusonthetrip?"-Soundsawkward. Clicktoexpand... Thewordsdon'tseeminterchangeablehere. ThereisaconcessiveforceoftenincertainlywhichIdon'tsenseindefinitely. CanIstayupandwatchthefilmonTV,Dad?Certainlyyoumay. CanIstayupandwatchthefilmonTV,Dad?Definitelyyoumay. Iputacrossbythesecond,notbecauseitwouldbeoutofthequestion,butbecauseIthinkitwouldbeodderthanthefirstfromafatherinthesecircumstances.Tomyearcertainlyheresuggestsmorethegrantingofpermissionwheredefinitelyisastatementoffact.   D domangelo SeniorMember UnitedStatesEnglish ThomasTompionsaid: Iwishthepeoplewhosensenodifferencewouldaddressthemselvestoxebonyx'sexamplesinpost3: Thewordsdon'tseeminterchangeablehere. ThereisaconcessiveforceoftenincertainlywhichIdon'tsenseindefinitely. CanIstayupandwatchthefilmonTV,Dad?Certainlyyoumay. CanIstayupandwatchthefilmonTV,Dad?Definitelyyoumay. Iputacrossbythesecond,notbecauseitwouldbeoutofthequestion,butbecauseIthinkitwouldbeodderthanthefirstfromafatherinthesecircumstances.Tomyearcertainlyheresuggestsmorethegrantingofpermissionwheredefinitelyisastatementoffact. Clicktoexpand... Iamnotsurethatthesedifferencesareofinteresttoanyonebeyondthefieldoflinguistics.Ihearthedifferencesyouspeakofintheseexamples,butIhaveafeelingthatitissimplyamatterofsetphrasesthatwehavebecomeaccustomedtohearing,ratherthanarealdifferenceinmeaning.Ifanon-nativespeakerofEnglishweretospeaktheexamplesthatyouhavecrossedout,Iwouldprobablynotevennoticehischoice,sinceIdon'texpectnon-nativespeakerstonecessarilyusethesame"setphrases"thatanativespeakeruses.   T ThomasTompion SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-England domangelosaid: Iamnotsurethatthesedifferencesareofinteresttoanyonebeyondthefieldoflinguistics.Ihearthedifferencesyouspeakofintheseexamples,butIhaveafeelingthatitissimplyamatterofsetphrasesthatwehavebecomeaccustomedtohearing,ratherthanarealdifferenceinmeaning.Ifanon-nativespeakerofEnglishweretospeaktheexamplesthatyouhavecrossedout,Iwouldprobablynotevennoticehischoice,sinceIdon'texpectnon-nativespeakerstonecessarilyusethesame"setphrases"thatanativespeakeruses. Clicktoexpand... Twopoints,domanagelo, 1.Idon'tthink,ifwewereonlydealingherewith'setphrases',thedifferencewouldbeofmuchinteresttoastudentoflinguistics. 2.Idon'tthinkweareonlydealingwith'setphrases'here.Thedifferencesarethere,itseemstome,inxebonyx'sexamplesinpost3,whicharen't'setphrases',andwhichpeoplehavebeenstrangelyreluctanttotakeintoaccount: xebonyxsaid: "Wow,soshe'sdefinitelycomingalongwithusonthetrip?" "Wow,soshe'scertainlycomingalongwithusonthetrip?"-Soundsawkward. Clicktoexpand... TheseexamplesseemtometoillustratethesamedifferenceIwasdrawingbetweenthedifferentwordsintheimaginaryfather'sanswer,thoughI'mnotsureit'squitethepointbeingmadeintheLongman'sguide.   Wilma_Sweden SeniorMember Lund,Sweden Swedish(Scania) Usingtheoriginalexamples,IhaveinterpretedLongman'sguideasfollows: HewilldefinitelyvoteforY=He'sthoughtalotaboutwhotovoteforandhasfinallymadeuphismind. HewillcertainlyvoteforY=He'satrue[insertY'spoliticalaffiliationhere]andthere'snowayinhellthathe'dvoteforanyoneelse. Nativespeakersmaydisagree,ofcourse.ImightasktheopinionofoneofmyEnglishlecturers(Australian)whoiscertaintohaveanopinioninthematter! /Wilma   T ThomasTompion SeniorMember SouthernEngland English-England That'saninterestingpointofview,Wilma.I'dcertainlyliketoagreewithyou,butIdefinitelydon'tfeelthedifferencequitelikethat.Icouldswapyourtwodefinitionsoverandbejustashappywiththem. IseethedifferenceasbeingnotsomuchinthelikelihoodofhisvotingforYasintherhetoricalforcewhichthespeakerwishestheadverbtogivetohissentence. HewilldefinitelyvoteforY-Weboth,orall,knowhewillvoteforY. HewillcertainlyvoteforY-I'mwillingtoconcedeyourpointthathe'llvoteforYorIsuspectyouthinkhe'llvoteforYandI'mreadytoagree. ThisistheconcessiveforceincertainlyIwasreferringtoearlier.   D domangelo SeniorMember UnitedStatesEnglish HelloWilma, PleaselookcarefullyatthewordsthatLongman'susestoexplaintheuseoftheword'definitely': "Use definitelytosaythatsomethingISCERTAINTOhappenorbetrue•Iwilldefinitelybeback(NOTIwillsurelybeback)byten." definitely=certainto,orinotherwords,WITHCERTAINTY. Innowayaretheysayingthattheword'certainly'couldnotalsobeusedinthissense.Theysimplysaythattheword'surely'cannotbeusedhere.Itwouldbeabsurdtosaythat'certainly'doesnotmeanthesamethingas'withcertainty'.   Wilma_Sweden SeniorMember Lund,Sweden Swedish(Scania) Oh,andtherewasmethinkingtherewassomesortofemphaticconnotationto'certainly'that'definitely'didnothave.Ohwell.Weliveandlearn! /Wilma   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums EnglishOnly EnglishOnly Top