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Let's suppose the following scenario; do the sentences bellow mean the same?

  • How was the meeting Gary?

a) I'm not sure; but I guess the result was somewhat acceptable.

b) I'm not sure; but I guess the result was acceptable to some extent.

c) I'm not sure; but I guess the result was acceptable to an extent.

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    In my opinion, acceptable is not a gradable adjective; something is either acceptable or it is not. If you were to change the adjective to something that is gradeable, for example useful, the three sentences would have the same meaning. Here is a link that discusses this: english.stackexchange.com/questions/16150/…
    – JavaLatte
    Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 9:09
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    But acceptable is often used as a gradable adjective. books.google.com/ngrams/…
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 15:27
  • books.google.com/ngrams/…
    – TimR
    Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 15:29
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    Note that many English-language grammar/style guides suggest semicolons should not be used with conjunctions. (e.g. "I'm not sure; I guess the result was somewhat acceptable" would be preferred.)
    – Chris Keefe
    Commented Aug 9, 2020 at 16:14

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All three sentences have identical meanings.

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