Learners Questions: How to use be likely to

Be likely to We use be likely to to talk about the possibility of something happening, often in connection with the future. When we say be likely to, we are confident that something will happen, but we cannot be 100 sure. The American is likely to win the race tomorrow. Its likely to rain on Tuesday. Be unlikely to The opposite of likely is unlikely. The opposite of be likely to is be unlikely to. This means we are confident that something will not happen. England are unlikely to win the world cup. Hes unlikely to pass his exams. Past Be likely to and be unlikely to can be used in the past. Change the verb be. We usually use a perfect form after. Sarah was unlikely to have known that her boyfriend was a criminal when she met him. My father was unlikely to have lost his wallet in his own house.