Is there any difference between вероятно and наверняка in expressing assumptions?

Question

I believe that both of these adverbs are used to express "must" in assumptions. I wonder if they're completely synonymous, or if one carries a different set of semantic nuances from the other?

Наверняка/вероятно вчера с Андреем что-то случилось.

Something must've happened to Andrey yesterday.

(... he never showed up, etc.)

"Наверняка" is also more colloquial. – Vitaly Osipov Jun 06 '14 at 05:14 — Vitaly Osipov, Jun 06 '14 at 05:14

Vi. · Answer 1 · 2014-06-05T01:52:58.020

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"Вероятно" is like "probably" or "likely";
"Наверняка" is like "for sure".

If the statement about Andrew's calamities is expected to be overestimated (i.e. a mother which always worries about her son), "наверняка" may sound better.

edited Jun 05 '14 at 01:52

answered Jun 05 '14 at 01:43

Vi.

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score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 06 '14 at 13:59

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The exact meaning of the words are as Vi said, one shows a high probability and the other a certainty. In usage, however, they are both used to express the same concept but, Наверняка is colloquial while Вероятно is more literary.

answered Jun 06 '14 at 13:59

Metaphor

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Thank you for that clarification - that's the pivotal point I was looking for :) – CocoPop Jun 06 '14 at 17:15

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 07 '14 at 17:15

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It might be added that until (I believe) around the early XXth century "наверное" meant "certainly" whereas today by some reason "наверно" seems to be more towards "вероятно" than "наверняка"

answered Jun 07 '14 at 17:15

მამუკა ჯიბლაძე

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Is there any difference between вероятно and наверняка in expressing assumptions?

3 Answers3