Can something 'suggest' that something else is 'certainly the case'?

Hi, Language Lover,

@Language Lover posted:

My apologies, as this is more of a semantics question, but I would appreciate the thoughts of others on this.

You don't need to apologize. Many questions here are of a semantic nature. We only sometimes encourage members to look up the word in the dictionary.

@Language Lover posted:

Is a sentence such as the one below semantically acceptable? I appreciate it is not ideal but what I am asking is if it is acceptable.

'Events suggest that this is certainly a period of change.'

If you look up "suggest," you will find it has several meanings: propose, recommend, indicate, imply.

In your sentence above we could use "indicate," so "suggest" is correct. I'm not sure I like the assertive nature of "certainly." I think it clashes with the tentativeness of "suggest." I would say:

- Events suggest that this is a period of change.
- Events suggest that this would be a period of change.

Thanks so much. I ask because I included a similar construction in a published piece recently - now locked in print forever! On reflection, like you, I would now prefer to remove the 'certainly' if I could - but you have confirmed my belief that this is an intuitive preference as opposed to a semantic 'error', which is the better outcome for me, now my work is published! Thanks again. 

By the way, welcome to the Grammar Exchange, Language Lover. I just realized you are new here. I think I confused you with another member having a similar name.

Thanks!