Tu as sûrement raison.

Questions & Answers about Tu as sûrement raison.

How is the adverb sûrement formed in this sentence?
It is built from the adjective sûr (sure or certain). To make it an adverb, we take the feminine form of the adjective, which is sûre, and add -ment to the end. This gives us sûrement (surely or certainly).
Why do we use as (have) instead of the verb for 'are'?
In English you say someone 'is' right, but French uses the verb avoir (to have). The exact phrase is avoir raison (literally to have reason). Because the subject is tu (you), we conjugate it as Tu as raison.
Why is sûrement placed in the middle of the phrase instead of at the end?
In French, short adverbs are typically placed immediately after the conjugated verb. Here, sûrement goes right after the verb as, even though it feels strange to English speakers to split up the expression avoir raison.
Does the little hat accent on the 'u' in sûrement change how it sounds?
No, it sounds exactly the same as a normal French 'u'. The circumflex accent comes from its root word sûr. It is kept in the spelling of sûrement and originally helped distinguish the root from the word sur (which means 'on').

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