Thread: What "наверное" means?

Privet.
In the dictionary says that "наверное" means both "probably" and "certainly"???
How can the same word means about opposite things?
Any examples?

Well,
наверно, он тебя уже знает. -- Most likely(probably,surely,certainly), he already know you.
Basically it means two things 1= вероятно, 2 = несомненно.

By the way, I have no idea of what I'm speaking about

It means "I believe but don't know for sure". It's similar to the English "I guess" or "probably."

"certainly" is not a very good translation, though I guess it might apply in some cases.

наверное ты его знаешь - "you probably know him" or "I guess you know him"

"Probably", I'd say. On rare occasions it may be used as an adverb meaning "for sure" ("I know this for sure"), but I perceive that as an old-fashioned use.

You are most likely to only ever encounter the word used as a parenthesis, when it always means "probably/ most likely". It is easy to distinguish between the two. If the word doesn't seem to have any grammatical connection to a verb in the sentence, then it is parenthesis, and then it is "probably". Which is, like, 99% of all contemporary use.

It means 'perhaps, maybe, probably', etc. in modern Russian.

There is also this archaic meaning - which is 'certainly, for sure' - it's very often used by Dostoevsky, for example. But this is the 19th century meaning. In modern Russian, if you use it in this meaning a lot of people won't understand it.

This is the quote from Dostoevsky: И потому я не имею права... к тому же я мнителен, я... я убежден, что в этом доме меня не могут обидеть и любят меня более, чем я стою, но я знаю (я ведь наверно знаю), что после двадцати лет болезни непременно должно было что-нибудь да остаться, так что нельзя не смеяться надо мной... иногда... ведь так?

here it means 'certainly, for sure', but in modern Russian they wouldn't say it, otherwise it would sound archaic... There is just a single person I know who could use it, he is 66 though.

Каждый день я понимаю что русский язык очень богатый а трудный. Когда я начал учить русский я был очень наивным и верил что я смогу прочитать Достоевского на аутентичном русском тексте. Сейчас я знаю что это невозможно ... однака я продолжаю.

There is also this archaic meaning - which is 'certainly, for sure' - it's very often used by Dostoevsky, for example. But this is the 19th century meaning. In modern Russian, if you use it in this meaning a lot of people won't understand it

Now that I learned that наверное in most of the cases means probably I would like to know what наверняка means?
Obviously the two words have the same root but from what I read I think that наверняка means "for sure, certainly" (i.e. It has the archaic meaning of наверное).
Correct?

Originally Posted by Antonio1986

Now that I learned that наверное in most of the cases means probably I would like to know what наверняка means?
Obviously the two words have the same root but from what I read I think that наверняка means "for sure, certainly" (i.e. It has the archaic meaning of наверное).
Correct?

for sure, surely; when one is certain; surely, certainly - the meaning is not archaic, often used

the trick is that наверное expresses doubt, while наверняка implies certainty,

It's a bit confusing, but it's the way it is.

It's a bit confusing, but it's the way it is.

Now you explained it to me is not confusing. Thank you.

Here are some related words that I looked up. Not sure which ones are in current usage and which would be considered archaic...
Степень уверенности (Degree of Certainty):

наверно - probably, certainly

вероятно - probably, very likely

несомненно - doubtlessly, without doubt

наверняка - certainly, for sure

возможно - perhaps, possibly

предположительно - supposedly

по-видимому - apparently, seemingly

точно - exactly

безусловно - certainly, undoubtedly, absolutely

определённо - definitely

уверенность - confidence, certainty

Here are some related words that I looked up. Not sure which ones are in current usage and which would be considered archaic...
Степень уверенности (Degree of Certainty):

наверно - probably, certainly

вероятно - probably, very likely

несомненно - doubtlessly, without doubt

наверняка - certainly, for sure

возможно - perhaps, possibly

предположительно - supposedly

по-видимому - apparently, seemingly

точно - exactly

безусловно - certainly, undoubtedly, absolutely

определённо - definitely

уверенность - confidence, certainty

Excellent post.
You didn't mention именно. What it means?

Значение и происхождение слов наверно, наверное и наверняка | Живой русский язык

Кстати, "наверно" похоже на английское "must be". Это выражение тоже поменяло значение почти на противоположное.

Originally Posted by Antonio1986

You didn't mention именно. What it means?

In most cases именно means exactly. I think you may even use "just": for example это произошло именно в тот вечер - this has happened just that very evening

Штирлиц знал наверняка. Но Наверняк не знал Штирлица!

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

Штирлиц знал наверняка. Но Наверняк не знал Штирлица!

Штирлиц выстрелил в упор. Упор упал наверняка. Верняк взял упор и запустил его в Штирлица. "Рикошет", догадался Штирлиц.

Именно means "exactly". We use it either as a pair with "вот", like "вот именно", which is an exclamation meaning "Exactly!, Correct!, On the nose!", or separately, which conveys the same meaning but with less expression.
We also may use it as a means to put the sentence stress on a specific word, like a grammatical equivalent of this thing:
"Именно из-за тебя наша команда проиграла" = "It was because of you that our team lost" or
"Именно ты украл мою ручку, я уверен в этом!" = "It was you who stole my pen, I'm sure about that!"

"Именно" is literally translated as "namely". And it's used approriately. "Наверное" usually expresses doubt, uncertainty, but put in a rhetoric question it can express certainty. For example: "Ну я-то наверное знаю, о чем говорю?!" It means something like "Don't you think I'm pretty sure of what I am talking about?!"

"Именно из-за тебя наша команда проиграла" = "It was because of you that our team lost"

Идеальный пример.
Именно по этой причине, когда у меня один вопрос я спрашиваю в этом форуме.

когда у меня один вопрос

when(ever) I have a question = когда у меня есть вопрос.

спрашиваю на этом форуме

А в остальном - отличная грамматика!

Originally Posted by Antonio1986

Каждый день я понимаю, что русский язык очень богатый и трудный. Когда я начал учить русский, я был очень наивным и верил, что я смогу прочитать Достоевского в оригинале. Сейчас я знаю, что это невозможно ... однако я продолжаю.

Конечно, это возможно. Я замечала, когда читаешь произведение на иностранном языке, то через несколько глав привыкаешь именно к этому автору, и становится легче. Со мной так было, когда я читала La promesse de l'aube (XX век) и когда я читала Мериме (XIX век). Вначале каждое второе слово смотришь в словаре, а потом они начинают повторяться! Так что все правильно, надо продолжать!

Your Russian is very good, I even got the desire to correct your punctuation as it often happens with me whan I read some Russians' messages (I do not mean this forum ).