In the English Grammar Profile, C1 point 197 in MODALITY/expressions with ‘be’ is defined as:
HEDGING ‘be’ + ‘not’ + adjective + ‘that-‘ clause to make an assertion less direct
The EGP adjectives include: ‘certain’, ‘likely’ and ‘sure’ which are all related to hedging and modality such as certainty and probability.
A search in iWeb for:
_VB _XX _J that_C
1 ‘M NOT SURE THAT 10255
If the situation had been reversed, and I’d lost a child in a fire,
I’m not sure that fire dancing would be the answer.
2 IS NOT SURPRISING THAT 9211
3 ‘S NOT SURPRISING THAT 6164
4 AM NOT SURE THAT 4643
5 IS NOT CLEAR THAT 2185
6 ARE NOT AWARE THAT 2081
*The following example IS NOT HEDGING. It just follows the formal pattern of the search.
What we know is that the bats are not aware that their colony is doing this.
7 WAS NOT AWARE THAT 1823
8 IS NOT TRUE THAT 1797
9 IS NOT NECESSARY THAT 1699
10 WAS N’T AWARE THAT 1657
11 ‘M NOT CONVINCED THAT 1565
12 IS NOT LIKELY THAT 1264
It‘s not likely that she slipped and fell.
13 ‘S NOT CLEAR THAT 1257
14 AM NOT CONVINCED THAT 1151
15 ‘M NOT SURPRISED THAT 1082
16 ‘S NOT LIKELY THAT 783
17 AM NOT SURPRISED THAT 720
18 WAS N’T SURE THAT 709
19 ARE NOT SURE THAT 678
20 ARE N’T AWARE THAT 634
21 IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT 618
22 WERE NOT AWARE THAT 599
23 IS NOT CERTAIN THAT 542
24 IS N’T SURPRISING THAT 524
25 IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE THAT 485
26 ‘RE NOT SURE THAT 468
27 ‘S NOT TRUE THAT 441
28 AM NOT AWARE THAT 434
29 WAS NOT SURPRISING THAT 421
30 IS NOT UNLIKELY THAT 390
31 IS NOT AWARE THAT 381
32 IS NOT UNCOMMON THAT 378
33 ‘S NOT FAIR THAT 377
34 ARE NOT CONVINCED THAT 345
35 WAS N’T SURPRISED THAT 342
36 IS NOT OBVIOUS THAT 341
37 WAS NOT SURPRISED THAT 341
38 IS NOT SATISFIED THAT 309
39 IS NOT INCONCEIVABLE THAT 294
40 WAS NOT SATISFIED THAT 279
41 WAS NOT SURE THAT 276
42 ‘S NOT IMPOSSIBLE THAT 276
43 ‘M NOT CERTAIN THAT 270
44 AM NOT CERTAIN THAT 265
I‘m not certain that you really understand this trade.
45 WAS NOT CONVINCED THAT 259
46 IS NOT CONVINCED THAT 253
47 IS NOT IMPROBABLE THAT 236
48 ‘S NOT EVERYDAY THAT 231
49 WERE N’T AWARE THAT 230
50 ARE NOT SATISFIED THAT 227
51 ‘S NOT INCONCEIVABLE THAT 225
52 IS NOT PROBABLE THAT 221
53 ARE NOT CONFIDENT THAT 217
54 IS NOT STRANGE THAT 216
55 AM NOT SATISFIED THAT 208
56 ‘M NOT AWARE THAT 206
57 IS NOT WILLING THAT 199
58 IS NOT SURE THAT 198
59 WAS N’T CONVINCED THAT 196
60 IS NOT ESSENTIAL THAT 193
61 ‘S NOT OBVIOUS THAT 187
62 WAS NOT HAPPY THAT 187
63 IS NOT UNUSUAL THAT 185
64 WAS NOT CLEAR THAT 178
65 ‘S NOT UNCOMMON THAT 172
66 IS N’T CLEAR THAT 171
67 IS NOT SUFFICIENT THAT 170
68 WAS N’T SURPRISING THAT 169
69 IS NOT ACCEPTABLE THAT 160
70 IS NOT FAIR THAT 158
71 ARE NOT SURPRISED THAT 157
72 AM NOT CONFIDENT THAT 151
73 ARE NOT CERTAIN THAT 150
74 ARE N’T SURE THAT 148
75 WAS N’T HAPPY THAT 146
76 ‘S NOT UNLIKELY THAT 145
77 WERE NOT CONVINCED THAT 145
78 ARE NOT HAPPY THAT 142
79 ‘M NOT CONFIDENT THAT 140
80 ‘M NOT HAPPY THAT 140
81 IS NOT GOOD THAT 140
82 IS NOT MANDATORY THAT 138
83 IS NOT SURPRISED THAT 137
84 WAS NOT POSSIBLE THAT 137
85 IS NOT HAPPY THAT 137
86 IS NOT IMPORTANT THAT 136
87 ‘RE NOT CONVINCED THAT 136
88 ‘S NOT NECESSARY THAT 133
89 IS N’T TRUE THAT 132
90 IS N’T AWARE THAT 129
91 ARE N’T CONVINCED THAT 129
92 ‘S NOT CERTAIN THAT 127
93 WERE NOT SURE THAT 119
94 AM NOT WORTHY THAT 116
95 IS N’T CONVINCED THAT 116
96 IS N’T LIKELY THAT 110
97 WERE N’T SURE THAT 107
98 WERE NOT SURPRISED THAT 107
99 ‘S NOT IMPORTANT THAT 106
100 WAS NOT CERTAIN THAT 105
B2 vocabulary:
aware, probable, sufficient