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Yogi2005 Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary

Tentatively/preliminary

Hello,

What's the diference between 'tentatively' and 'preliminary'?

thanks
  

Top answer

Hello! Here are two definitions which I hope will help you. The government is taking tentative steps towards tackling the country’s economic problems.

  • Hello!
  • Here are two definitions which I hope will help you.
  • The government is taking tentative steps towards tackling the country’s economic problems.
  • 2 done without confidence synonym hesitant a tentative smile Extra dictionary examples Evan's writing is very tentative.
  • Workers have reached a tentative agreement with management.
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6 Answers
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Hello!

Here are two definitions which I hope will help you. Both are from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:

tentatively =
1
not definite or certain, and may be changed later
synonym provisional
opposite definiteI passed on my tentative conclusions to the police.The government is taking tentative steps towards tackling the country’s economic
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thank you ouwebok, your examples helped me.


I have one more question. Which of the sentences below are correct?

We tentatively agreed to meet next Friday.
A entative agreement has been reached.
A preliminary agreement has been reached.

thank you
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Though your sentences seem correct to me, I just wondered if "reaching an agreement" doesn't pull out the "tentativeness"? If it's an agreement, so things have to be certain, aren't they?
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Hello!
I agree with Language Lover, but since "reaching a tentative agreement" is OK for the dictionary...

What exactly does the first sentence mean?
- we hesitantly agreed, or
- we agreed to a trial meeting?
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Hi Pieanne, I think Yogi meant the first sentence you mentioned. However, he's not here, so I can't speak for him!Emotion: wink
Cheers,
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hello everybody,

What I meant by the first sentence (We tentatively agreed to meet next Friday.) was that we agreed to meet but we were not 100% sure if we would be able to meet.

ex.
Today is Monday. We want to meet on Friday. We don't have any other plans for Friday but something important may come up on Wednesday and we won't be able to meet on Friday.
So , by 'w

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