关于"Chances are (that)"在口语中的应用

51learn

在看美剧《绝望的主妇》时，看到下面的一个句子：My point is, if it didn't feel quite right to you, chances are it's just a onetime thing. 想问一下：

chances are (that)，是不是省略了that? 另外，它在句子里做什么成份？我知道chances are that，与There's a strong linklihood that...基本相同，如果是下面的句式，很好理解，也知道怎么用，但上面这种如果不理解成份，就不知道怎么用它。
发现很多“chances are”这种用法，应该算是老外用得比较多的一种句子结构了。例如：

E.G.1：You just had to know her. Chances are eight years ago you probably did. （摘自『欲望都市』S01E10）

E.G.2：He's my bodyguard and I ran out of the car because we were stuck in traffic, and chances are he abandoned the car to try to protect me 'cause he's good at his job. （摘自『新闻工作室』S01E07）

E.G.3：You may wanna steer clear of the word "dumped."  Chances are he's gonna be this broken shell of a man. （摘自『老友记』S01E02）

forumaster

「(The) chances are (that) 主语+ 谓语(系动词)」句型的意思相当于「It's likely that 或 There’s a likelihood that +主语 + 谓语 /系动词」，表示某事可能发生，定冠词 the 和 关系代名词 that 可省略。「sb + be 动词 + likely + to 动词原形」，可表示某人可能 …。

若要表达「不可能」，可将句中的 likely 改成 unlikely。 most、quite、very、extremely 等副词可用来修饰形容词 likely 和 unlikely。

steve

Chances are that 是惯用说法，意思是: {事情大概是这样}；{可能}； 因此，后面的时式就算是过去，前头还是用 are 不用 were。

字典例子(后面子句使用过去相反的假设法，但前面仍是 chance are)：
chances are that 相当于the likelihood is (followed by a clause stating what is likely).
Chances are that she would have been late even if she had left on time.