9.07.2009

HOPEFULLY

(adverb): In a manner characterized by a combination of desire and expectation.
--------Constructions like "Hopefully, it won't rain" are often condemned because such statements contain nothing capable of hope for the adverb to modify. But it is odd that similar constructions using "frankly," "sadly" and "mercifully" are likely to pass without comment—"hopefully" has for some reason been singled out for disapprobation. Although there is now general acceptance that such "sentence adverbs" may be used to indicate the speaker's frame of mind, you may wish to avoid them if your speech or writing is going to be critically scrutinized.
--------The noun and verb "hope" are parents to the adjective "hopeful" and its opposite "hopeless," and their associated nouns "hopefulness" and "hopelessness."
-------- "Hopefully, I'll be in the casino tonight." (You wouldn't go if you weren't hopeful.) But beware that a sentence adverb can be misinterpreted if people are the subject of your sentence: "They're to be married, hopefully, in the spring." (Do you hope for a spring wedding, or is their betrothal to be founded on nothing more than hope?)
Source:YourDictionary