Learn English – Question about “surely” and “certainly”

grammarsentence-meaningword-meaning

Today I saw a sentence:

She surely can do it.

What does that mean? How does it differ from:

She certainly can do it.

Surely she can do it.

This slight difference in meaning of those sentences I am not able to notice. Could you please help me? Thanks in advance!

Best Answer

  1. She sure/surely/certainly can ...

    Where I come from (US South) these would express admiration for her ability. Sure would be the ordinary colloquial form; surely would be a more emphatic colloquial form; and certainly would be acceptable in any register. Can, the adverb, and the following lexical verb would have equal primary stress.

    That little girl surely can dance!

  2. Surely she can ...

    This would express certainty that she has the ability or the opportunity or the option, and surprise that she has not done so, or the option has not been considered. The stress falls on surely, then falls until the final term of the clause.

    Surely she can ask her uncle if she needs the money.

    Certainly and sure are not used in this sense.

  3. a. Certainly she can ...
    b. She can ..., certainly.

    With primary stress on certainly, these would assert that she does indeed have the ability or opportunity or option. Sure or surely may replace certainly in conversational registers; surely would have a distinctly down-home feel.

    Certainly she can register for 300-level courses; her grades are outstanding.

    With the primary stress on can or on the verb which complements it, these would concede that she has the ability or opportunity or option, but would imply a following objection.

    Certainly she can register for 300-level courses, but I think it's a bad idea.
    She can register for 300-level courses, certainly, but I doubt the professors will admit her.

    Sure can replace replace stressed certainly in conversational registers, but surely is not likely to be used in this sense.

  4. She can certainly ...

    In this position certainly would not be stressed; the stress must fall on the following lexical verb, and the sentence will have the concessive sense.

    She can certainly register for 300-level courses, certainly, but I doubt the professors will admit her.

    Sure and surely would be used with primary stress shared with the following lexical verb, and would have the same admiring sense as 1.

    That little girl can sure/surely dance!

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