Expressing Uncertainty
Deze les is nog niet in jouw taal beschikbaar — hij wordt in het Engels getoond.
Woordenschat
- 不确定性uncertainty
- 模糊表达vague / hedging expression
- 推测to speculate / conjecture
- 大概probably / approximately
- 未必not necessarily
- 值得商榷debatable / open to question
- 存疑open to doubt / unresolved
- 言过其实to overstate / to exaggerate
Expressing Uncertainty in Chinese
At C1, intellectual honesty requires knowing how to hedge, speculate, and signal degrees of confidence in Chinese.
Degrees of certainty — from strong to weak:
- 毫无疑问 — without a doubt (certainty)
- 可以确定 — it can be confirmed
- 很可能 — very likely
- 大概 / 或许 — probably / perhaps
- 未必 — not necessarily
- 尚不清楚 — not yet clear
- 存疑 — open to doubt
Academic hedging phrases:
- 据目前的研究来看…… — Based on current research...
- 这一结论仍有待验证 — This conclusion remains to be verified
- 不排除……的可能性 — The possibility of... cannot be ruled out
- 这一说法值得商榷 — This claim is debatable
Why hedging matters: Overclaiming (言过其实) damages credibility. In academic and professional Chinese, precise hedging shows intellectual sophistication.
Warning: 大概 is informal in most registers. In formal writing, prefer 可能 (possible) or 推测 (it can be speculated that).
Uitdrukkingen
- 据目前的研究来看，这一结论尚存争议Based on current research, this conclusi
- 不排除……的可能性The possibility of... cannot be ruled out
- 这一说法值得商榷This claim is debatable
- 推测起来，这可能与……有关Speculatively, this may be related to...
- 这一问题目前仍存疑This issue currently remains open to doubt
- 未必如此，需要更多证据支持Not necessarily so
Veelgemaakte fouten
这个研究证明了这一点，毫无疑问。这项研究的结果倾向于支持这一观点，但尚需更多实证加以验证。Saying research proves something without qualification is overclaiming; use hedged language to show intellectual precision
大概是真的，也可能不是。目前证据不足以作出明确判断，这一问题仍存疑。Using 大概 informally without explanation adds no value; replace with a substantive hedged statement in formal writing
我不确定，所以我不说。这一领域的研究仍在发展中，目前还无法得出定论，但可以推测……Refusing to engage because of uncertainty is not appropriate at C1; use hedging expressions to engage thoughtfully despite uncertainty
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