ENGLISH
REFERENCE

not necessarily

fixed phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

fixed phr.. you use this to say that something might be true, but it is not always true or certain.

fixed phr.. an adverbial phrase used to qualify a statement by indicating that a specific conclusion or condition is not an inevitable or universal result.


SIMPLE

A high price does not necessarily mean high quality.

CONTEXTUAL

Just because he is quiet, it does not necessarily follow that he is shy.

COMPLEX

While the data suggests a correlation, it does not necessarily imply a causal relationship between the two variables studied.

Usage

often used to respond to a statement or to qualify a verb like 'mean', 'follow', or 'be'.

Teaching tip

teach this as a polite way to disagree or add nuance without being confrontational; it softens a contradiction.

Pitfall

It is not necessary true.It is not necessarily true.the adverb form 'necessarily' must be used to modify the adjective 'true', not the adjective 'necessary'.

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