Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 3: 6/13

だろうRight?, Probably, Isn't it?

Structure

Verb + だろう
Adjective + だろう
Noun + だろう

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Auxiliary Verb

  • Word Type

    Dependent Word

  • Register

    Standard

About だろう

だろう is a conjugated form of だ, and can also be seen in the contracted form だろ (more casual). だろう expresses that the speaker thinks that something is true (assertion/expectation), and also that the listener would probably agree with them. This comes across like 'right?', or 'probably' in English.

だろう carries exactly the same meaning as でしょう (the polite equivalent). However, due to だ being more casual than です, だろう is also considered to be more casual/masculine than でしょう.

Caution

While だろう is usually used when the speaker has some sort of information that would support their assertion, it can also be used simply when the speaker 'feels' that something is true.

  • これは、お菓子(かし)だろう？
    This is candy, isn't it?

In this kind of sentence that expresses a 'feeling' or 'hunch', だろう comes across as quite low confidence. The speaker's tone of voice will often reveal how confident だろう is.

Examples

--:--

    ここがいいだろう？

    This place here is good (right?)

    あなただろう。

    It's you (right?)

    これはペンだろう。

    This is a pen. (right?)

    今夜(こんや)は、忙(いそが)しいだろう。

    Tonight is busy (right?)

    これは、水(みず)だろう。

    This is water, right?

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だろう – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

  • MZa

    MZa

    The explanation says that だろう is a conjugated form of だ’. I was wondering which form it is. The おう ending would point to the volitional form. Is that right? If it is, the nuance of だろう compared to だ would make sense.

    Edit: i did a bit of research and it seems that my hypothesis is right. Since だ is a shortened である and あろう is the volitional form of ある, であろう would have been shortened in だろう, right?

  • MZa

    MZa

    Since だろう is just a form of だ as said in the new explanation, I guess there is no more reason to use a particle when using the former than when using the later.

  • steffuld

    steffuld

    Hi! If だろう is a conjugated form of だ, and だ is not used with verbs, why can だろう be used with verbs? Is there a reasonable explanation?

    Maybe it was のだろう initially but then の was omitted, or maybe it goes back to である times or something like that?

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