hopefully vs I hope (speaker's feeling)

[Eman Hassan]

Hello

One of my students used "hopefully" at the beginning of his sentence:
Hopefully, you will pass the test.

I told him to say: "I hope" instead.
Back then I wasn't aware of the controversy about"hopefully".
And I told him that the reason he can't use "hopefully" here is that it has an underlying meaning of a less possibility , as if the speaker thinks he's unlikely to pass the test. On the other hand, " I hope" shows that the speaker has more hope.

Is my assumption correct?
Please don't refer to the general "hopefully" and "I hope" debate. My question is only about the speaker's feeling.
Thank you

 

[emsr2d2]

As far as I'm concerned, saying "Hopefully you will pass the test" just refers to the general hope (probably on the part of the person taking the test) of passing, but "I hope you pass the test" makes it more personal - it expresses the specific desire on the part of the speaker that the other person is successful.

I have to say that, until today, I was not aware of any controversy surrounding "hopefully".

 

[konungursvia]

To me they are similar. English allows anthropomorphism, or projection, if you prefer, with adverbs and adjectives.

It was a happy day.
Hopefully you will defeat your enemy.

 

[Raymott]

This entry gives a discussion on the controversy about 'hopefully':
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hopefully

Some amateur grammarians say it should only be used as an adverb to the verb, as in:
"Hopefully, John asked Mary to the dance."