Modal particle 'wohl'

What it is. wohl as an unstressed modal particle expresses a probable assumption - "probably, presumably." It marks the statement as the speaker's guess rather than established fact, overlapping with the epistemic use of modal verbs (dürfte).

Main use. Tentative supposition.

• Er ist wohl krank. - He is probably ill.
• Sie wird wohl bald kommen. - She'll probably come soon.
• Das war wohl ein Missverständnis. - That was presumably a misunderstanding.

Common mistakes. As a particle, wohl is unstressed and means "probably"; do not confuse it with the adverb wohl meaning "well" (sich wohlfühlen - to feel well), or with stressed contrastive wohl (Ich habe es wohl gesagt! - I most certainly did say it). Keep it in the middle field, not at the start.

'wohl' expresses a probable assumption ('probably').

Marks a probable assumption (probably); unstressed in the Mittelfeld.

'wohl' drückt eine wahrscheinliche Vermutung aus.