"Likely To" + Infinitive vs "It Is Likely That" + Clause
5 exercises — practise the two structures for hedged predictions with "likely".
0 / 20 completed
1 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "likely to" with the subject that will perform the action?
"The migration is likely to take longer than the estimate" is correct: "[subject] + be likely to + bare infinitive" attaches the prediction directly to the subject performing the action. Option B incorrectly tries to combine the impersonal "it is likely to" pattern with a separate subject and verb, which is not grammatical. Option C mixes "likely to" with a "that"-clause, which the "likely to" pattern does not take. Option D incorrectly follows "likely" with "for + gerund", which is not a valid structure for this adjective.
2 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses the impersonal "it is likely that" pattern with a full clause?
"It is likely that the vendor will patch this vulnerability within a week" is correct: "it is likely that + subject + finite verb" is the standard impersonal pattern, here paired with "will" for a future prediction. Option B incorrectly mixes the impersonal "it is likely" opener with the "likely to" infinitive pattern's subject placement. Option C incorrectly uses "for + gerund" after "likely", which is not a valid structure. Option D incorrectly attaches "that" directly after "is likely" with the real subject already in front, producing a double-subject structure.
3 / 20
Which sentence correctly rewrites "It is likely that the service will time out" using the "likely to" pattern with the same meaning?
"The service is likely to time out" correctly transforms the sentence: the real subject ("the service") moves to subject position, followed by "is likely to" plus the bare infinitive, preserving the original meaning. Option B incorrectly keeps "that" after moving the subject, mixing both patterns. Option C incorrectly uses a gerund ("timing out") instead of the required infinitive after "likely to". Option D omits the auxiliary "is", which "likely to" requires as part of the adjective phrase ("be likely to").
4 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "likely to" to hedge a prediction about a specific metric behaving a certain way?
"Error rates are likely to spike during the flash sale window" is correct: the plural subject "error rates" takes "are likely to" plus the bare infinitive "spike". Option B incorrectly adds "that" after "likely", which does not belong in the "likely to" pattern. Option C incorrectly places "error rates" after "it is likely", conflating the two patterns' subject positions. Option D is missing the auxiliary "are" and uses a gerund instead of the required bare infinitive.
5 / 20
Which sentence correctly uses "it is likely that" when the prediction concerns a whole situation rather than one clear grammatical subject performing an action?
"It is likely that both root causes contributed to the outage simultaneously" is correct and natural here, since the prediction is about a whole compound situation (two causes acting together) rather than a single agent performing one action, which favors the impersonal "it is likely that" clause. Option B incorrectly inserts "that" into the "likely to" pattern. Option C garbles the verb form and misplaces "that". Option D incorrectly mixes "it is likely" with an infinitive clause instead of the required "that"-clause.
6 / 20
Code Review Comment: Sarah commented on David's PR:
'It is likely that the database query will become slow if we continue to increase the data volume. We should investigate adding indexes.'
This comment correctly uses 'it is likely that' to introduce a potential problem with a clause explaining *why* it might occur. The phrase highlights the *possibility* of slowness due to increased data volume, aligning well with the cautious tone appropriate for a code review. 'Likely to' could have been used, but this phrasing emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationship more clearly.
7 / 20
Slack Message: Mark sent a message to his team:
'I'm likely to push the final changes tonight if everything builds and tests successfully.'
Here, 'likely to' is precisely what Mark intends – he's expressing a probability that his intended action (pushing changes) will occur *if* certain conditions are met. 'It is likely that' would be overly formal and less direct in this casual Slack conversation; the key element is the conditional nature of the statement.
8 / 20
PR Description: You are writing the description for a PR that implements a new API endpoint.
'It is likely that this endpoint will experience high load during peak hours.'
In this scenario, 'likely to' accurately reflects the situation – it's a prediction based on existing data (peak hours) and anticipates potential high load. Using 'it is likely that' with a clause provides context for *why* the load might be high. Using 'guaranteed outcome' would be overly confident and inaccurate.
9 / 20
Standup Update: During the daily standup, you say:
'I'm likely to finish implementing the user authentication module by tomorrow afternoon.'
During a stand-up, this phrasing effectively communicates your *anticipated* progress – you're expressing a probability of completion by a specific time, given your current work. 'It is likely that' would sound overly formal and less conversational for this type of update; 'likely to' is more typical in team communication.
10 / 20
API Response: You receive the following error message from a microservice:
'It is likely that the service is experiencing resource contention.'
The API response suggests a *potential* reason for the issue – resource contention. 'Likely to' captures this uncertainty and presents it as a possible explanation without making an absolute declaration of failure. 'It is likely that' provides context about the nature of the problem (a potential cause) which aligns with how such messages are typically communicated.
11 / 20
Code Review Comment: Sarah commented on David's PR:
'It is likely that the database query will become slow if we continue to increase the data volume. We should investigate adding indexes.'
This comment correctly uses 'it is likely that' to introduce a potential problem with a clause explaining *why* it might occur. The phrase highlights the *possibility* of slowness due to increased data volume, aligning well with the cautious tone appropriate for a code review. 'Likely to' could have been used, but this phrasing emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationship more clearly.
12 / 20
Slack Message: Mark sent a message to his team:
'I'm likely to push the final changes tonight if everything builds and tests successfully.'
Here, 'likely to' is precisely what Mark intends – he's expressing a probability that his intended action (pushing changes) will occur *if* certain conditions are met. 'It is likely that' would be overly formal and less direct in this casual Slack conversation; the key element is the conditional nature of the statement.
13 / 20
PR Description: You are writing the description for a PR that implements a new API endpoint.
'It is likely that this endpoint will experience high load during peak hours.'
In this scenario, 'likely to' accurately reflects the situation – it's a prediction based on existing data (peak hours) and anticipates potential high load. Using 'it is likely that' with a clause provides context for *why* the load might be high. Using 'guaranteed outcome' would be overly confident and inaccurate.
14 / 20
Standup Update: During the daily standup, you say:
'I'm likely to finish implementing the user authentication module by tomorrow afternoon.'
During a stand-up, this phrasing effectively communicates your *anticipated* progress – you're expressing a probability of completion by a specific time, given your current work. 'It is likely that' would sound overly formal and less conversational for this type of update; 'likely to' is more typical in team communication.
15 / 20
API Response: You receive the following error message from a microservice:
'It is likely that the service is experiencing resource contention.'
The API response suggests a *potential* reason for the issue – resource contention. 'Likely to' captures this uncertainty and presents it as a possible explanation without making an absolute declaration of failure. 'It is likely that' provides context about the nature of the problem (a potential cause) which aligns with how such messages are typically communicated.
16 / 20
Code Review Comment: Sarah commented on David's PR:
'It is likely that the database query will become slow if we continue to increase the data volume. We should investigate adding indexes.'
This comment correctly uses 'it is likely that' to introduce a potential problem with a clause explaining *why* it might occur. The phrase highlights the *possibility* of slowness due to increased data volume, aligning well with the cautious tone appropriate for a code review. 'Likely to' could have been used, but this phrasing emphasizes the cause-and-effect relationship more clearly.
17 / 20
Slack Message: Mark sent a message to his team:
'I'm likely to push the final changes tonight if everything builds and tests successfully.'
Here, 'likely to' is precisely what Mark intends – he's expressing a probability that his intended action (pushing changes) will occur *if* certain conditions are met. 'It is likely that' would be overly formal and less direct in this casual Slack conversation; the key element is the conditional nature of the statement.
18 / 20
PR Description: You are writing the description for a PR that implements a new API endpoint.
'It is likely that this endpoint will experience high load during peak hours.'
In this scenario, 'likely to' accurately reflects the situation – it's a prediction based on existing data (peak hours) and anticipates potential high load. Using 'it is likely that' with a clause provides context for *why* the load might be high. Using 'guaranteed outcome' would be overly confident and inaccurate.
19 / 20
Standup Update: During the daily standup, you say:
'I'm likely to finish implementing the user authentication module by tomorrow afternoon.'
During a stand-up, this phrasing effectively communicates your *anticipated* progress – you're expressing a probability of completion by a specific time, given your current work. 'It is likely that' would sound overly formal and less conversational for this type of update; 'likely to' is more typical in team communication.
20 / 20
API Response: You receive the following error message from a microservice:
'It is likely that the service is experiencing resource contention.'
The API response suggests a *potential* reason for the issue – resource contention. 'Likely to' captures this uncertainty and presents it as a possible explanation without making an absolute declaration of failure. 'It is likely that' provides context about the nature of the problem (a potential cause) which aligns with how such messages are typically communicated.
What will I practise in ""Likely To" + Infinitive vs "It Is Likely That" + Clause — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise choosing between the "[subject] is likely to + infinitive" pattern and the impersonal "it is likely that + clause" pattern when hedging technical
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 20 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.