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Anonymous9n4 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Most certainly

I was wondering if the expression most certainly is gramatically correct. My suspicion stems from that fact certain seems an ungradable adjective to me, so I thought most certainly wouldn't be correct for that reason (just as you can't say most unique, right?). I'm asking whether it's correct purely in grammatical terms; it doesn't matter if the expression is widely used or not.
P.S. I'm talking about Standard American English
  

Top answer

Hi, motor_angel, Rest assured, the phrase most certainly is most certainly grammatically correct. Most simply adds emphasis to the adverb certainly, which is not an absolute word like unique, fatal, etc.

— RandomGuy

  • Hi, motor_angel, Rest assured, the phrase most certainly is most certainly grammatically correct.
  • Most simply adds emphasis to the adverb certainly, which is not an absolute word like unique, fatal, etc.
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3 Answers
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Hi, motor_angel,

Rest assured, the phrase most certainly is most certainly grammatically correct. Most simply adds emphasis to the adverb certainly, which is not an absolute word like unique, fatal, etc.
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Certain is gradable:

I am less certain about his honesty than she is.
She is more certain about his honesty than I am.
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motor_angelI was wondering if the expression most certainly is grammatically correct.
It is most certainly correct, but I'd say that the question of whether it's gradable or not is irrelevant. The expression most certainly does not normally occur in comparative contexts anyway. For example, it's not comparative in t
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