Breakdown of Разумеется, мы не можем прогнозировать будущее, но это, вероятно, произойдёт.
это
this / it is
не
not
мы
we
мочь
to be able to
Questions & Answers about Разумеется, мы не можем прогнозировать будущее, но это, вероятно, произойдёт.
How is разумеется different from the more common word конечно?
While both express certainty and translate to "of course" or "certainly," разумеется carries the specific nuance of "it goes without saying" or "it is naturally understood." It is related to the verb разуметь (to understand) and sounds slightly more formal and intellectual than конечно.
Why are there commas after разумеется and around вероятно?
In Russian, words that express the speaker's attitude, certainty, or doubt are called parenthetical words. Just like "however" or "of course" in English, these words do not grammatically modify any specific word in the sentence and must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Why is будущее used as a noun here when it clearly has an adjective ending?
Будущее (the future) is an adjective that has permanently taken on the role of a noun. This is quite common in Russian. Because it ends in -ее, it is grammatically neuter and changes its endings exactly like a standard neuter adjective would across all cases.
Why do we use the imperfective verb прогнозировать but the perfective verb произойдёт?
We use the imperfective прогнозировать because the sentence talks about the general concept and ability of predicting things, not one specific prediction. In contrast, произойдёт is perfective because it points to one specific, completed event (this particular thing happening) in the future.