果(は)たしてWonder if ~ (really)?, Wonder how ~ (actually)?, Sure enough, As expected

果(は)たして, being the て-form of the う-Verb 果(は)たす 'to fulfill', or 'to come to fruition', is an expression that is used adverbially to strengthen phrases of speculation. It may be translated as 'I wonder if (A)', 'how actually (A)', or 'how really (A)'.

果(は)たして will often be seen paired with other structures that indicate speculation, such as だろうか, でしょうか, かな, or かしら; and can be thought of as just emphasizing them further.

As this grammar point will be used adverbially, it will primarily appear at the beginning of sentences.

In sentences that do not include other speculative grammar patterns such as だろうか, 果(は)たして will regularly be translated as 'sure enough', or 'as expected'.

Fun-fact

Coming from the base meaning of 果(は)たす 'to come to fruition', 果(は)たして can be thought of as similar to 'in the end' in almost all cases, as it merely expresses the speakers thought process about 'what will' or 'what has' happened 'in the end'.

If using this translation to memorize 果(は)たして, it should also be noted that the nuance of what happens 'in the end' is almost always something that the speaker either expected, or assumed would happen in the first place.