Probably, possibly, probability, possibility

Question

Well. I am always confused with these words. Can you illustrate the difference with examples?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Here are some sentences from fraze.it which contain both possibly and probably. They are useful to compare these two adverbs.

It's probably (highly likely) true if they say your little Tommy is a liar and possibly (a little bit likely, maybe) a thief.

She was an attractive woman, possibly of Indian descent, probably in her late 20s. (We are more certain of her age than her culture.)

An 8-track reel of tape from an IBM mainframe in the 1980s is probably unreadable, except possibly by a handful of machines kept by hobbyists.

A story about the earthquake in Turkey: You probably find that disturbing, possibly even terrifying and for that I apologize.

He probably died in Spain, as well, some time after 405, possibly around 413.

We need as much food donated to us as we can possibly get, because we'll probably pass all of it out.

We are still not back in our place and probably won't be until December or possibly January.

That money will probably help boost retail sales, possibly in April but more likely in May and June.

Probably, possibly, probability, possibility

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