Level 1 — Foundation · Instant Sentences
Drill 9: Saying How Certain You Are, Instantly
Answer a question with a claim at the right strength — certainly, probably, or possibly — matching your spoken confidence to your real confidence, the live version of Lesson 9's hedging skill.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this drill, you should be able to:
- Answer a question with a certainty adverb that honestly matches how sure you feel
- Use a degree adverb (highly, relatively) correctly in a spoken description
- Avoid defaulting to a flat, unhedged claim out of habit
Introduction
Lesson 9 taught you that "certainly," "probably," and "possibly" make three genuinely different claims. In conversation, most learners default to a flat, unhedged statement because it's the fastest thing to say — this drill trains you to reach for the honest level of confidence instead, without slowing down.
Shadow the Model
This is certainly the reason. This is probably the reason. This is possibly the reason.
Same five words at the end of each sentence, three completely different claims. Shadow all three and notice how the certainty word carries the real weight of the sentence, even though it's said quickly.
Your Turn
Your Turn
Think of something you're not 100% sure about — why a delay happened, whether a plan will work, what caused a problem. When the timer starts, say your answer with a certainty adverb that honestly matches how sure you really are.
Answer now — pick the honest certainty word, not the fastest one
Record Yourself
Answer three uncertain questions out loud, each with a different certainty level, then play yourself back.
Model Answer
Show a model answer
There's no single correct sentence — "This is probably the cause" and "This is certainly the cause" are both correct if they match your real confidence. What matters is that you consciously picked the certainty word instead of defaulting to a flat statement out of habit.
Vocabulary in Context
confidencenounneutral
how sure someone is that something is true (আত্মবিশ্বাস/নিশ্চয়তা)
Often with level of confidence, with confidence, express confidence
“The engineer spoke with confidence about the repair timeline.”
Self-Check
Self-Check
- Did your certainty adverb honestly match how sure you actually felt?
- Did you use at least one degree adverb (highly, relatively, extremely) correctly across your answers?
- Did you avoid falling back on a flat, unhedged sentence by habit?
Next: Speaking 10 — referring back to something you just said, instantly, without repeating the noun, following Lesson 10.