it's virtually certain

Grammar usage guide and real-world examples

One reader wrote of "Atlas Shrugged," "No matter what you think of Rand's philosophy, it's virtually certain you'll agree that that book was, at best, a major chore to read".

But it's virtually certain you'll end up feeling more violated by the pretrial and the trial and the publicity than you do right now.

It's virtually certain to be rejected in a crucial vote next week — and that could mean weeks of perilous political brinkmanship.

"I wouldn't say it's virtually certain, but I'd give it 80 percent or 90 percent," said John Spencer, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, a member of Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer team.

I include myself in this, of course; I've been writing these posts for the Guardian for over three years, so it's virtually certain that I've got dozens of things wrong, probably on multiple occasions.

"It's virtually certain that there will be unintended consequences," said Herbert Lin, a senior scientist at the National Research Council and author of a recent report on offensive cyberwarfare.

In the future, the report said, "it is virtually certain" that coastal headlands, spits and barrier islands will erode faster than they have in the past.

—It is virtually certain that increases in the frequency of warm daily temperature extremes and decreases in cold extremes will occur throughout the 21st century on a global scale.

In July, a team of international scientists brought together by Climate Central concluded that "it is virtually certain" that the heat wave that struck Europe in early July was more likely now due to climate change.

On Mr Bush's target, it is virtually certain that American emissions would be much higher in 2012 than they are today.The idea of a registry for emissions is a good one.

However, Mr. Ruckman said, it is virtually certain this year's mark will be the most in history because the population was smaller and there were fewer federal criminal laws in the country's early years.