likelihood

hi everybody

my question is about the use of the expression "the likelihood" in a sentence.

for example

someone is likely to become the president

becomes

the likelihood is that someone...

can anybody please provide with any conventional rule in the above transformation and thank you.

wishes,

jalal

Likelihood is simply the noun form corresponding to likely. The likelihood is that someone is the same as it is likely that someone.

English is very fluid and you can shift words between parts of speech quite easily.

-hood is probably the most general suffix for turning another word into a noun meaning, basically, "the condition of being _____"

The condition of being likely (adverb)=likelihood
the condition of being a child (noun) = childhood
the condition of being false (adjective) = falsehood

The suffix -ship also denotes 'the condition of being ____' but only attached to nouns: friendship, partnership, lordship.

The suffix -ness does the same for adjectives and past participles: redness, datedness.

This is English so there are probably a thousand variables but that's the general principle at work.