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#2 (permalink) Mon Jan 16, 2006 16:41 pm Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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Hi,
Certainly has the sense of 'it's a fact'. Surely is used when the speaker is either trying to reassure themeslves or another person.
Alan _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Present Simple |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 17284 Location: UK
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#3 (permalink) Wed May 16, 2012 0:20 am Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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I think the difference of meaning between surely and certainly minimum. Am I correct? |
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Cristovam I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 25 Apr 2009 Posts: 269
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#4 (permalink) Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:29 am Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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Good day, Sir! Is it possible to use the word "obviously", because it was obviously Michael Dobson? |
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Gatherer I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 10 Jul 2012 Posts: 12 Location: Russia
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#5 (permalink) Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:33 am Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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As a standalone sentence, that would be possible, but not within the context of this test, which is a series of related statements. Only 'surely' works well when you place it within the whole dialogue. _________________ "Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."
Terry Pratchett |
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Beeesneees Language Coach

Joined: 08 Apr 2010 Posts: 39144 Location: UK, born and bred
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#6 (permalink) Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:53 am Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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Hi Gatherer,
If you used 'obviously' in the test sentence, you are really saying that it is clearly Dobson and there is no doubt about it but within the conversation the speaker uses 'surely' because she is asking the other person for reassurance that it is Dobson.
Alan _________________ English as a Foreign Language You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 17284 Location: UK
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#7 (permalink) Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:01 am Difference between SURELY and CERTAINLY |
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Thank you very much for you explanation. |
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Gatherer I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 10 Jul 2012 Posts: 12 Location: Russia
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