[Grammar] With/To A Certainty

[yelsevent]

1. "It will happen with a certainty."
2. "It will happen to a certainty."
3. "I could determine the outcome with a certainty."
4. "I could determine the outcome to a certainty."

Could someone tell me which of these are false English?

 

[billmcd]

1. "It will happen with a certainty."
2. "It will happen to a certainty."
3. "I could determine the outcome with a certainty."
4. "I could determine the outcome to a certainty."

Could someone tell me which of these are false English?

None are correct. The article, "a" is not neessary, but even without the article, #'s 2 and 4 are incorrect.

 

[yelsevent]

After making a few changes:

1. "It will happen with an absolute certainty."
2. "It will happen to an absolute certainty."
3. "I could determine the outcome with an absolute certainty."
4. "I could determine the outcome to an absolute certainty."

Would some of these sentence be genuine English?

 

[emsr2d2]

Billmcd just told you the article isn't necessary.

This will happen with certainty. (Not very natural)
This will happen - I say that with absolute certainty. (Better)
I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that this will happen. (Most common)

 

[5jj]

1. "It will happen with an absolute certainty."
2. "It will happen to an absolute certainty."
3. "I could determine the outcome with an absolute certainty."
4. "I could determine the outcome to an absolute certainty."

Would some of these sentence be genuine English?

I would not go so far as to say 'genuine English', but #1 and #3 might be just about acceptable - if you drop 'an'.

In my opinion, we are far more likely to say, "It is (absolutely) certain that it will happen".