英语语法：19 Starting a Sentence With "Hopefully"

Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is whether it’s OK to start a sentence with the word hopefully.

 Paul from Long Island, NY, called the voice-mail line with this comment:
 
I was wondering if maybe you could do a podcast devoted² to the misuse³ of the word hopefully. It's an adverb, but nobody uses it that way. I drive a lot of people crazy with that one; it's a big pet peeve⁴ of mine. Maybe you could drive more people crazy with it than I do.
 
I'm probably going to make everyone crazy with this topic, because I think it should be OK to start a sentence with “hopefully,” but I'm still going to tell you not to do it.

 
The problem Paul is talking about is when people start a sentence with “hopefully” instead of “I hope.”
 
If you've ever heard me give a radio interview, you've probably heard me self-correct this problem. Here's what a self-correction sounds like; this one’s from last week's Business Week podcast:
 
Hopefully...we hope.
 
I don't mean to pick on the speaker here—as I said, I do this a lot. I just happened to hear the Business Week reporter right when I needed a clip. I don't know what's going on in her head when she does this, but here's what's going   on in my head when it happens to me:
 
Hopefully [Oh no! Oh no! I started a sentence with “hopefully”! Abort⁵! Abort!] We hope...
 
Here's the deal: the traditional use of hopefully, which goes back to at least the 1600s, is to mean “in a hopeful manner,” as in Squiggly looked hopefully at the box of chocolates. Paul is correct that hopefully is an adverb in that sentence. It modifies the verb looked. Squiggly is looking in a hopeful manner at the chocolates.
 
But about 300 years later, people started using hopefully to mean “I hope,” as in Hopefully, I'll get some of that chocolate.
 
In that sentence, hopefully is behaving like a sentence adverb. You see, adverbs modify verbs, but they can also modify other adverbs or, as they do in this case, whole sentences. Hopefully means I'm hopeful I'll get some of that chocolate.
 
Other words that can function as sentence adverbs include fortunately and honestly, and for some reason these are less controversial than hopefully. Nobody has ever written in complaining about sentences like these:
 
Fortunately, the chocolate was out of reach.
Honestly, I wish I were somewhere else.
 
I am hopeful you can see that the sentence adverbs fortunately and honestly modify the whole sentence in the same way that hopefully did in the previous example. Fortunately relates to the entire point that the chocolate was out of reach, and honestly describes the subject's state of mind and gives the whole sentence a confessional quality.
 
Here's another example with hopefully:
 
Hopefully, Steve broached⁶ the subject of an expedition.
 
But language sticklers⁷ will say, "Aha! We've got you now!" Hopefully, Steve broached the subject of an expedition could mean two different things. It could mean Steve broached the subject in a hopeful manner, or it could mean the storyteller is hopeful that Steve broached the subject of an expedition. And the language sticklers are right.
 
The counter-argument is that there are few instances where a reasonable person would be confused; context usually makes the meaning clear. And if there is an instance where intolerable confusion will ensue, just don't use hopefully. There's no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water. In most cases, the meaning is clear, especially when the sentence isn't about a person:
 
Hopefully, the expedition will be approved.
 
Nobody is going to think the expedition is hopeful.
 
Hopefully, it won't rain.
 
Nobody is going to think the weather is hopeful.
 
And even when there is a human (or mammalian) subject, context usually makes the meaning clear:
 
We don't have chips to go with the salsa? Hopefully, Aardvark is getting chips on his way home.
 
So now that I've made the strongest argument I can for starting a sentence with hopefully, I still have to say, don't do it.
 
For some reason, to many language sticklers, starting a sentence with "hopefully" has become a mark of ignorance. It really grates on people's nerves. It's not as bad as using literally⁸ for emphasis when you mean “figuratively" or saying someone graduated college, but it won't help you win friends or influence people.*
 
I am hopeful that starting a sentence with hopefully will become more acceptable in the future. In fact, many language experts have come around on starting a sentence with hopefully. The response ranges from an enthusiastic "fully¹ standard" at Dictionary.com to a resigned "lost cause" from Bryan Garner⁹, author of Garner's Modern American Usage.
 
Still, I know from the messages I get that many of you disagree, and this is a battle that isn't going to go away anytime soon.
 
We're still ironing out some bugs¹⁰ on the website, and I couldn't get the poll to work last time I tried. But if I can get it working, I'll put up a poll so you can vote on whether you think it's OK to use hopefully as a sentence adverb to mean “I hope.”

 
Book Giveaway
This week, I’m giving away three copies of my award-winning audiobook, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing. The winners—Roger, Elizabeth, and Emi—are drawn¹¹ from the list of people who are subscribed¹² to our free e-mail newsletter. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, use the blue button in the sidebar at our website: quickanddirtytips.com. At the site you can also find a transcript¹³ of this podcast, my contact information, and all the other great Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts.

That's all. Thanks for listening.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

4 peeve   

v.气恼，怨恨；n.麻烦的事物，怨恨

参考例句：

• She was in a peeve over it.她对这很气恼。
• She was very peeved about being left out.她为被遗漏而恼怒。

5 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

6 broached   

v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体

参考例句：

• She broached the subject of a picnic to her mother. 她向母亲提起野餐的问题。 来自辞典例句
• He broached the subject to the stranger. 他对陌生人提起那话题。 来自辞典例句

7 sticklers   

n.坚持…的人( stickler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They infuriate word sticklers by presenting a and leaving the reader to decide which is correct. 它们会提出一堆解释让读者自己判断哪个是正确的，令人大为光火。 来自互联网

8 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

9 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

10 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

12 subscribed   

v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。