Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl I'd use it, even though I'm pretty sure it's not right (the treaty, after all, is not hopeful).
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@ApostateEnglishman @grammargirl I took it to be more about the use of the adverb and less about the content of the statement, but you’re right—it does give the impression that one is not very confident in the outcome.
@ramsey @grammargirl Yeah, my creative writing was improved when I read that Stephen King almost never uses adverbs - one of the tricks behind his captivating prose style. He even said that "the road to Hell is paved with adverbs."
Once you get into the habit of avoiding them, writing that uses them a lot ("Especially in dialogue attribution," added Martin wearily) becomes...jarring.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl That feels like a pedantry battle no one’s fighting anymore. It felt very old fashioned to me the first time I read it (Strunk & White?) decades ago.
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@grammargirl That feels like a pedantry battle no one’s fighting anymore. It felt very old fashioned to me the first time I read it (Strunk & White?) decades ago.
@overholt @grammargirl precisely, I was raised on Strunk and White, and it has taken me a long time to undo their rote strictures. I prefer now to write as I naturally speak, which honestly still comes across as stuffy. But yes I will use “hopefully” that way.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl "The treaty will hopefully be ratified" or "the treaty will be hopefully ratified"? Best to avoid the ambiguity if the intent isn't clear from the context.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
I know of the objections to this use of hopefully but I don't care. It feels natural to me. And I've just realised that German has "hoffentlich" for this use case and does not need to say "hoffnungsvoll" - possibly a word that English lost at some point?
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl
If the treaty is feeling hopeful at the time of the ratification then it is correctly written; however, this should more likely be restated to clarify why the inanimate object is experiencing emotion. The parties to the thing might hopefully enter into an agreement. -
@grammargirl
If the treaty is feeling hopeful at the time of the ratification then it is correctly written; however, this should more likely be restated to clarify why the inanimate object is experiencing emotion. The parties to the thing might hopefully enter into an agreement.@grammargirl
If you really want to keep the word and the comma then I'd be the reader scanning for context to understand what you mean, unless you'd add a few words. For example, Hopefully, I'm predicting the treaty will be ratified. That way, I'm understanding who it is who is feeling the hope. -
@grammargirl That feels like a pedantry battle no one’s fighting anymore. It felt very old fashioned to me the first time I read it (Strunk & White?) decades ago.
@overholt That's what I thought (and hoped) too, but the comments across three networks are proving me wrong.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl I think it would depend on the context though. I don't think I'd use it like that in anything remotely formal. But a post here, or maybe on my blog, sure.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl
As I regularly report, when I ask my students about this (Ivy-League graduate writing students), for the last several years not a single one has even been aware of a "hopefully" controversy, let alone had an opinion on it. -
@grammargirl
As I regularly report, when I ask my students about this (Ivy-League graduate writing students), for the last several years not a single one has even been aware of a "hopefully" controversy, let alone had an opinion on it.@jessesheidlower That's what I had expected to find!
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@jessesheidlower That's what I had expected to find!
@grammargirl
The people who respond to such queries, or who complain to news organizations about the purported misuse of shibboleths, are a very, very, very tiny proportion of language users. -
@grammargirl
As I regularly report, when I ask my students about this (Ivy-League graduate writing students), for the last several years not a single one has even been aware of a "hopefully" controversy, let alone had an opinion on it.@jessesheidlower I'm kind of trying to recreate the most recent survey Garner said he did, but I'm using the sentence from AHD surveys and tried to frame it in a less leading way than Garner.
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@grammargirl That feels like a pedantry battle no one’s fighting anymore. It felt very old fashioned to me the first time I read it (Strunk & White?) decades ago.
@overholt @grammargirl I tend toward the rigid side of language disputes, but I gave up on “hopefully” when the AP Stylebook did. Languages change.
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@grammargirl
The people who respond to such queries, or who complain to news organizations about the purported misuse of shibboleths, are a very, very, very tiny proportion of language users.@jessesheidlower Definitely. Still, I ask questions like this intermittently, and the reaction to this seems stronger than to some other questions. No matter what, much, much stronger than I expected.
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@overholt @grammargirl I tend toward the rigid side of language disputes, but I gave up on “hopefully” when the AP Stylebook did. Languages change.
@ClimateJenny @overholt But yes, anyone who follows "Grammar Girl" is likely to be on the prescriptive side, and I always try to remember that.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl it’s good enough for Merriam to write a note about it and the reference links from Wikipedia are fun.
I say this as a born again disjuncter. I was one of those insufferable purists but as I’ve grown, I’ve started to enjoy the flourish and clarity that bastardisation of “official” language can bring. Now I bastardise with gleeful abandon.
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl yes, with the headcanon that "Hopefully" is an absolute of the "ablative/genitive/nominative/locative absolute" family.
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Would you use "hopefully" like this in a sentence:
Hopefully, the treaty will be ratified.
(I'm going to compare how people feel about this sentence today to an older survey that used the same sentence.)
@grammargirl I learned this as incorrect, and I avoid using it in writing, but I know I use it in casual conversation.
