Talk:hopefully

Confusion of different kinds of sentence-modifying adverbs - reason for the objection?

Some sentence-modifying adverbs "really mean" "it is x that," e.g.:

Naturally, she dyed her hair. (It is natural that she dyed her hair.)

Unfortunately, he died. (It is unfortunate that he died.)

You can't say, "It is hopeful that the war will be over soon," therefore, "Hopefully, the war will be over soon" is wrong.

But other sentence-modifying adverbs describe the manner in which the statement is made:

Frankly, he annoyed me. ("Frankly speaking" or "I tell you frankly.") (I don't think anyone would claim that this means, "He told me exactly what he thought of my daughter's singing.")

Confidentially, its aroma leaves much to be desired. ("I tell you confidentially")

Briefly, he says she's a fake. ("To be brief") (I'm summarizing his eighteen volumes.)

Truthfully(!!!!), I haven't started it yet. (Nobody seems to object to this one.)

(It is frank that? It is confidential that? It is brief that?)

The "incorrect" use of hopefully seems to me entirely analogous. Kostaki mou (talk) 18:49, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

@Kostaki mou Sentence adverbs form a completely standard aspect of English grammar, but there are a few, for example, hopefully (http://oed.com/oed2/00107944) , that give rise to widespread criticism as they express the user's attitude to the sentence content rather than modify the sentence as a whole. Others that may incur criticism in the same way are mercifully, thankfully, and truthfully. In formal contexts, writers are advised to avoid all these and simply recast their sentences accordingly ( https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=hopefully). --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:53, 29 May 2021 (UTC)