925 English Video Lesson 29 - Talking about Possibility in English | Business English
Hi, Tim here with another 925 English lesson.
In today’s lesson, we’re going to learn how to talk about possibility.
What do I mean by “possibility?”
I mean answering questions like: will the stock market go up?
Will you get that job you applied for?
Will your manager be in a good mood today?
This is how we talk about possibility.
That means you are pretty sure something will happen.
But you can say you’re “fairly certain that something will happen.”
That’s like saying it’s 80 or 90 percent.
Another way of saying the same thing is “there’s a really good chance.”
In that case, “chance” doesn’t mean opportunity.
It means “probability.”
How about a bit of practice with these expressions for saying something will probably happen?
Listen to each example, then repeat it for yourself.
Let’s get started!
• Hiro will probably take the job at our European office.
• It seems likely that our marketing budget will be approved.
• There’s a really good chance we’ll beat our targets
• I’m fairly certain that we’ll pass the safety inspection.
In one of those examples, we used the word “likely.”
You can use this word just like “probably,” so we can say something like “it will likely
rain.”
But it also works as an adjective.
In other words, you can say that “rain is likely.”
So, it can be used to mean both “probably” and “probable.”
But what about when you’re not so sure?
What if there’s a fifty percent chance of something happening.
Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.
Well, this is when helping verbs like “might,” “may,” or “could” are useful.
For example, “I might get the job, but I’m not sure.”
And if you think a fact might or might not be true, you can say “it may be that”
For example, “it may be that we can’t increase sales.”
That’s a way of saying “maybe we can increase sales, but maybe we can’t.”
Let’s try these different ways of expressing the idea of something maybe happening.
Remember to repeat the examples after you hear them.
• Well, we might see a drop in sales next month.
• Judy could come by this afternoon, but I’m not sure.
• It may be that we need more office space next year.
• There’s a 50-50 chance we can get this contract.
And did you hear another “chance” expression?
This time, we said there’s a fifty-fifty chance of something happening.
In other words, there’s a 50% chance it will, and a 50% chance it won’t.
It’s “fifty-fifty.”
So we’ve talked about probably and maybe, but what about probably not?
There are a few ways to say that you think something probably won’t happen.
For one, you can say that you “doubt” it will happen.
To make it even less probable, you can say you “seriously doubt” it will happen.
You might also say “I don’t think we can count” on it happening.
That’s just like saying you doubt it will happen.
We also have an adjective that is the opposite of likely, and that’s “unlikely.”
And for extra emphasis, you can say something is “highly unlikely.”
But here’s one tricky thing: you can say “it will likely rain” but you can’t
That word “unlikely” is only an adjective, not an adverb.
So you can say “rain is highly unlikely.”
Let’s try these ways of saying “probably not.”
Once again, repeat the examples after you hear them.
• I seriously doubt Dan will want to come work for us.
• Finishing the project by May is highly unlikely.
• There’s very little chance that the delivery will be here by noon.
• I don’t think we can count on nice weather for the event.
Did you notice the “chance” expression in those examples?
This time, we said “there’s very little chance” of something.
That just means it probably won’t happen.
All right, we’ve practiced some useful ways of talking about possibility, but we should
really hear how this sounds in a conversation.
Let’s listen to a short dialog between Jane and Robert.
They are talking about the possibility of their company moving to another city.
Jane: I hear we might be moving to Chicago.
Robert: Actually, I seriously doubt we’ll do that.
Robert: Well, it seems likely that we’ll move to Cleveland instead.
Can you hear the possibility expressions?
Jane starts by saying they “might” move to Chicago.
But Robert “seriously doubts” that will happen.
Instead, he says it “seems likely” that they’ll move to Cleveland.
Now it’s your turn to practice.
We’ll repeat the dialog, but this time we’re going to beep out the second speaker’s words.
You have to say those parts yourself.
Remember to start by saying you seriously doubt what Jane says.
Then say it seems likely you’ll move to Cleveland.
Jane: I hear we might be moving to Chicago.
Robert: Actually, I seriously doubt we’ll do that.
Robert: Well, it seems likely that we’ll move to Cleveland instead.
All right, that’s all for today’s lesson!
We’ve learned some useful ways of talking about possibility, and saying whether you
think something will happen or not.
We’ll be back soon with some more useful English expressions.