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Opinion Adverbs

Express truth or belief about a situation

Opinion Adverbs vs. Modals Verbs

ADVERBS FOR OPINION
An adverb can be used to express what the speaker believes to be true about a situation.
Maybe¹, he will reach the top. (uncertain)
He will definitely reach the top. (certain)
Possibly, he'll descend the same day. (certainty)
No doubt², he'll return before dark. (certainty, necessity)
He apparently has super-human strength. (inference)

MODALS
A modal before the verb can be used to express a similar meaning.
He might reach the top of the mountain. (uncertain)
He will reach the top. (certain)
He may descend the same day. (uncertain)
He must return before dark. (necessity)
He must have super-human strength. (inference)

¹maybe (VP) combined words meaning "it may be that"

²no doubt (NP) a noun phrase meaning "there is no doubt that")

inference (N) – a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence or reasoning

Also see Will / Might and Should/ Must

Also known as Modal Adjuncts / Epistemic Stance Adverbials. See Grammar Notes.

Opinion Adverbs

Expressed as Prepositional Phrases

Opinion Adverbs vs. Prepositional Phrases

ADVERBS
Opinion adverbs (or prepositional phrases) express a wide range of opinion: certainty, reality, sources, limitations and precision of the situation.
CERTAINTY & DOUBT
Undoubtedly, he'll reach the top of the mountain. (a sure guess) surely, certainly, decidedly, undoubtedly, definitely, most likely, very likely, quite likely Perhaps¹, he'll reach the top of the mountain. probably, maybe, I guess, I think, I doubt, unlikely
ACTUALITY AND REALITY
He actually climbed it by himself. (factual, widely accepted) Actually, he climbed it by himself. actually, truly,really
VIEWPOINT OR PERSPECTIVE
Professionally, he's pretty amazing. (limiting it to my opinion) officially, professionally, legally, morally, ethically, healthwise
SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE
Apparently, he climbed it in world-record time. (second-hand information) Younger climbers, reputedly, are less strategic climbers. evidently, apparently, reportedly, reputedly, supposedly
LIMITATION / GENRALIZATION
He mostly climbed it by himself. (had some assistance) Typically, younger climbers are stronger climbers. mainly, typically, generally, largely
IMPRECISION / APPROXIMATION
Roughly, he climbed it in four hours. (about) about, roughly, so to speak, kind of, sort of

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
An adverb expressing opinion regarding the truth value of the situation may occur with an -ly suffix, in prepositional phrase or as both (truthfully, in truth).
CERTAINTY & DOUBT
Without a doubt, he'll reach the top of the mountain. (a sure guess) certainly, decidedly, undoubtedly, definitely, most likely, very likely, quite likely, of course With luck, he'll reach the top of the mountain. With luck, without a doubt
ACTUALITY AND REALITY
In fact, he climbed it by himself. (factual, widely accepted) In other words, he did what no one had done before. in fact, in actual fact, in truth
VIEWPOINT OR PERSPECTIVE
From my view, he's pretty amazing. (limiting it to my opinion) from my perspective, in my view, in my opinion,
SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE
According to them, younger climbers are less strategic climbers. according to someone – the source of information
LIMITATION / GENRALIZATION
For the most part, he climbed it by himself. (had some assistance) On the whole, younger climbers are stronger. in most cases, in general, for the most part, on the whole
IMPRECISION / APPROXIMATION
In a way, he had help from others. He sort of cheated by taking a helicopter down. in a way

¹perhaps [1520s ME] perhappes, from per by + happes chance

(Biber 10.1.1 764 854)

Opinion Adverb

List

Opinion Adverb List (just a few)

CERTAINTY / DOUBT	ACTUALITY & REALITY	VIEWPOINT
express degree of certainty	express clarity and accuracy	express limitation to field of knowledge
SPECULATE	CLARIFY	LIMIT FIELD
assuredly / certainly	in fact	from my perspective
decidedly / definitely	really	in his view
necessarily / surely	actually	in our opinion
obviously / most likely	truly / truthfully / in truth	from a linguistic point of view
undoubtedly / undeniably	in actual fact	with respect to the law
very likely / probably	I mean	regarding the law
conceivably / maybe	that is to say	officially (domain)
perhaps, possibly	in other words	economically
I guess / I doubt		legally / morally
unlikely		climate-wise / weather-wise (-wise adv)

clarify (V) – reword information so that it is more easily or accurately understood.

domain (N) – a field of action, thought or influence

limit (V) – restrict information to a particular way of thinking about something, for example, a way which is influenced by a person, a profession, a field of study or a social norm.

speculate (V) – guess, think, form an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof.

stance (v) – a mental or emotional position adopted with respect to something:

Opinion Adverb List (continued)

SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE	GENERALIZATION / LIMITATION	PRECISION
casually mention as second-hand knowledge	specify how customary, regular or widespread	mention as an estimation
REFER TO INDIRECTLY	ESTIMATE EXTENT	APPROXIMATE
evidently	commonly / uncommonly	exactly / approximately
apparently	in most cases / in a few cases	on the nose¹ / about
reportedly	mainly / secondarily	squarely / around
reputedly	typically / atypically (rarely)	precisely / roughly
according to X	generally / specifically	literally / figuratively (so to speak)
supposedly	largely / partially (partly)	in fact / sort of (in a way, kind of)
	on the whole / individually	smack-dab² / nearly
	chiefly / unimportantly

¹on the nose, on the button, on the money (expressions) – precisely

²smack, smack-dab (informal expressions) – precisely

"softening and correcting" — I think, I feel, I guess, apparently, so to speak, more of less, well, really , I'm afraid, I suppose, rather, actually I mean (Swan 157.16)

Opinion Adverb

Sentence Position

Initial vs. Mid-Sentence Position

INITIAL SENTENCE POSITION
Most opinion words can be place before the clause or sentence (separated by a comma.) Prepositional phrases are usually placed before the clause.
In truth, we don't know how long the climb will take.
Actually, we don't know how long the climb will take. / *Really, … (? sounds awkward)
Probably, the climb will take five hours.
In our opinion, the climb will take five hours.
In fact, the climb will take five hours.
In fact, the climb will take five hours.
*About, the climb will take five hours. (Use "Roughly, ")

MID SENTENCE POSITION
Words ending in -ly are usually placed after an auxiliary verb if there is one and before the main verb. Prepositional phrases are usually set off with commas if placed mid-sentence.
We truly don't know how long the climb will take.
We don't really know how long the climb will take. / We don't know really how long the climb will take.
The climb will probably take five hours.
The climb, in our opinion, will take five hours.
The climb, in fact, will take five hours.
The climb will take five hours.
They expect the climb to take about five hours.

*Yellow highlighted words are examples of incorrect usage.

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Grammar Notes (Advanced)

Terms Used

Various Resources

QUIRK / BIBER	HUDDLESTON / SWAN
Quirk, Randolph and Sidney Greenbaum. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1989) refer to these words as style disjuncts: "Style disjuncts convey the speaker's comment on the style and form of what he is saying, defining in some way under what conditions he is speaking as the 'authority' for the utterance. (8.123-33) style disjunct: (a) modality and manner (e.g.: truthfully bluntly, if I may say so) (b) respect (e.g.: in broad terms, personally) content disjunct: (a) degree of conditions for truth of content (e.g.: really, certainly, if he'd listened) (b) value judgement of content (e.g.: understandably, wisely, to everyone's surprise)	Huddleston and Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, refer to these structures as clause adjuncts. (Huddleston 765-7) modal adjuncts "Adverbs such as necessarily, probably, possibly, surely belong among the quite diverse set of forms expressing modal meaning…" a.) He can / may stay until six. b.) He possibly will stay until six. (8 §16) domain adjuncts "Adjuncts of this kind restrict the domain to which the rest of the clause applies…" Economically, the country is in sharp decline. (8 §15)
Biber, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English, 1999, refer to these words as epistemic stance adverbs. (Biber 10.3) Stance adverbs "have the primary function of commenting on the content or style of a clause…" They fall into three categories: epistemic — It was, definitely, a waste of time. (personal belief, "truth or value of the proposition, commenting on: certainty, reality, sources, limitations and precision of the proposition.") attitude — Fortunately, it was completed on time. (expresses the speaker's attitude tor ward of evaluation of the situation) style — Frankly, it was a waste of time. (commenting on the style or form of the utterance, clarifying how the speaker is speaking, how the utterance should be understood)	Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage, 2009, refers to these words as discourse markers:showing one's attitude to what one is saying; making things clear; generalising — No doubt, he reached the top of the mountain. "showing one's attitude to what one is saying" (157.18) — He actually reached the top of the mountain. "making things clear" (157.15) — On the whole, he had an easy climb up the mountain. "generalizing" (157.12) — Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong "certainty" (21.4)

QUIRK / BIBER

HUDDLESTON / SWAN

Quirk, Randolph and Sidney Greenbaum. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (1989) refer to these words as style disjuncts: "Style disjuncts convey the speaker's comment on the style and form of what he is saying, defining in some way under what conditions he is speaking as the 'authority' for the utterance. (8.123-33)

style disjunct:
(a) modality and manner (e.g.: truthfully bluntly, if I may say so)
(b) respect (e.g.: in broad terms, personally)

content disjunct:
(a) degree of conditions for truth of content (e.g.: really, certainly, if he'd listened)
(b) value judgement of content (e.g.: understandably, wisely, to everyone's surprise)

Huddleston and Pullum, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, refer to these structures as clause adjuncts. (Huddleston 765-7)

modal adjuncts "Adverbs such as necessarily, probably, possibly, surely belong among the quite diverse set of forms expressing modal meaning…"
a.) He can / may stay until six.
b.) He possibly will stay until six. (8 §16)

domain adjuncts "Adjuncts of this kind restrict the domain to which the rest of the clause applies…"
Economically, the country is in sharp decline. (8 §15)

Biber, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English, 1999, refer to these words as epistemic stance adverbs. (Biber 10.3)

Stance adverbs "have the primary function of commenting on the content or style of a clause…" They fall into three categories:

epistemic — It was, definitely, a waste of time. (personal belief, "truth or value of the proposition, commenting on: certainty, reality, sources, limitations and precision of the proposition.")
attitude — Fortunately, it was completed on time. (expresses the speaker's attitude tor ward of evaluation of the situation)
style — Frankly, it was a waste of time. (commenting on the style or form of the utterance, clarifying how the speaker is speaking, how the utterance should be understood)

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage, 2009, refers to these words as discourse markers:showing one's attitude to what one is saying; making things clear; generalising
— No doubt, he reached the top of the mountain. "showing one's attitude to what one is saying" (157.18)
— He actually reached the top of the mountain. "making things clear" (157.15)
— On the whole, he had an easy climb up the mountain. "generalizing" (157.12)
— Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong "certainty" (21.4)

Works Cited

Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Pearson Education, 1999.
Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
"perhaps". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. 3 Sep. 2017. <Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/perhaps>.
Quirk, Randolph and Sidney Greenbaum. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. 7th ed., Longman Group, 1989.

Practice

A Personal Challenge

Read the Context

Jack Shields is an extreme ice climber. I guess he is the most adventurous person I know. He does about twenty-five to thirty climbs a year. In fact, he is currently attempting to climb the Jungfrau in Interlaken, Switzerland. According to ice climbers, this is one of the most difficult mountain faces to climb. Apparently, that is why Jack wants to do it. He might be able to climb the south face, but it is unlikely that he can climb the north face wall.

In terms of the weather, the conditions should be perfect. There is a train that runs half-way up the mountain. But Jack doesn't plan to take it because that's sort of cheating. According to other climbers, the upper section is where most accidents occur. The view atop the Jungfrau on a clear day is undeniably one of the most beautiful in the world.

Add the opinion adverb or expression to the sentence.

Edit the sentence in the textbox.
Compare your edit with the feedback.

Jack Shields is an extreme ice climber. I guess he is the most adventurous person I know.
ADD: probably (mid-sentence position)

Edit 1

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He does about twenty-five to thirty climbs a year.
ADD: roughly speaking (initial-sentence position)

Edit 2

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In fact, he is currently attempting to climb the Jungfrau in Interlaken, Switzerland.
ADD: as a matter of fact (initial-sentence position)

Edit 3

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According to ice climbers, this is one of the most difficult mountain faces to climb.
ADD: reportedly (mid-sentence position)

Edit 4

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Apparently, that is why Jack wants to do it.
ADD: obviously (mid-sentence position)

Edit 5

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He might be able to climb the south face, but it is unlikely that he can climb the north face wall.
ADD: I doubt (mid-sentence position)

Edit 6

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In terms of the weather, the conditions should be perfect.
ADD: weatherwise (final-sentence position)

Edit 7

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There is a train that runs half-way up the mountain. But Jack doesn't plan to take it because that's sort of cheating. (mid-sentence position)
ADD: in a way

Edit 8

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According to other climbers, the upper section is where most accidents occur.
ADD: evidently (initial-sentence position)

Edit 9

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10.

The view atop the Jungfrau on a clear day is undeniably one of the most beautiful in the world.
ADD: without a doubt (initial-sentence position)

Edit 10

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"Jungfrau." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2016, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau#Climbing_routes.