In this episode of Like A Native I teach you guys how native English speakers often shorten the word “Probably” to “Prolly” and “Probly” when spoken, and to “Probs” when texting or on Facebook, etc.

Ep070: Like A Native – Probly, Prolly, Probs = Probably

G’day guys. Welcome to this episode of Like A Native, Like A Native.

So, this is the second episode I think that I’ve done for this series of Like A Native, and this was for all the kinds of things that I want to talk about on this podcast that aren’t necessarily grammatically correct, aren’t necessarily really really fun and interesting expressions per se, as such, but are definitely things that you’re going to hear. So, they could be the… the wrong way that some people pronounce certain words in English, in Australian English. They may be the kinds of funny little minute expressions that we use, you know, small um… small expressions like “To be up to”, um… “To make it somewhere”, all those kinds of small ones that aren’t necessarily something interesting or… or that are fun that I can spend an entire expression episode breaking down and explaining, but I wanted to have somewhere else that I could talk to you guys about the kinds of things that natives use all the time ah… when speaking English, that you’re probably going to hear, or that you may want to be able to use yourself.

So, today’s episode I want to break down the word “Probably” and how the word “Probably” is often pronounced “Probly”, “Prolly” or “Probs”. So, as I said at the start these things aren’t grammatically correct, they’re not correct, you would never write “probably” as “Probly”, “Prolly” or “Probs”, unless you were on say, Facebook Messenger or texting someone, and even then you would probably only write “Probs”. The other two, “Probly” and “Prolly” would never probably be written.

So, examples of how this would be used, and I might just go through how you can say each one of these in a sentence.

I’ll probs be home soon.

I’ll prolly be home soon.

I’ll probly be home soon.

I’ll probably be home soon.

The cat is probs just outside.

The cat is prolly just outside.

The cat is probly just outside.

The cat is probably just outside.

He’s probs gonna be late.

He’s prolly gonna be late.

He’s probly gonna be late.

He’s probably gonna be late.

So, you’ll notice that it’s just sort of reducing this word. So, “Probs” is just a… a slang term that a lot of English people say instead of saying the entire word “Probably”, and the other two forms “Prolly” and “Probly” are just when native English speakers speak incredibly quickly they just miss that little “-bab-“ in the middle of “Pro-bab-ly”. So, it just becomes, “Probly” or “Prolly”. And I notice that myself, I say “Probly” quite often where I just drop that “-bab-“ but still have a “b” in there. “Probly”, “Probly”.

So, that’s pretty much all there is to it guys. I’m going to run you through a quick substitution exercise where I’m going to make you correct the incorrect phrase that I say. So, I’m going to use the forms “Probs”, “Prolly”, “Probly” and I want you to say the sentence with the correct form “Probably”, “Probably”. So, for instance, if I were to say, “I’ll prolly be home later”, I want you to say after me, “I’ll probably be home later”. So, this way you guys get to focus on, 1. Hearing the incorrect, you know, grammatically incorrect forms, “Probs”, “Prolly”, “Probly”. So, you get to practice that, and, [2.] at the same time you get to practice saying the correct form, “Probably”. So, hopefully this helps, because I’d rather you practice the correct form than the incorrect for, at least with pronunciation and um… actively saying these things.

So, let’s do the first one:

I’ll prolly be home later.

I’ll probably be home later.

It’s probly going to rain today.

It’s probably going to rain today.

He said he’d prolly come home tomorrow.

He said he’d probably come home tomorrow.

I think I can probs make it to the meeting.

I think I can probably make it to the meeting.

You’re prolly gonna have a hard time convincing her.

You’re probably going to have a hard time convincing her.

She’s probly gonna call you on the phone.

She’s probably going to call you on the phone.

We’ll prolly be late if we don’t leave soon.

We’ll probably be late if we don’t leave soon.

They’ve probly been caught in traffic.

They’ve probably been caught in traffic.

That’s probs enough for today.

That’s probably enough for today.

I’d probly tell you if I knew.

I’d probably tell you if I knew.

So, that’s probly enough for today guys, and you’ll see just then that I used the form “probly”. Don’t necessarily practice using “Probly”, “Prolly” and “Probs” but be aware that they are said from time to time by native speakers, and “Probs” may be written by native speakers as well when they’re on social media like Facebook or they’re texting you, but the correct form is always going to be “Probably”. Anyway, until next time guys, all the best!