Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 3: 6/13

だろう

Right?, Probably, Isn't it?

Structure Legend

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

  • 品詞

    助動詞

  • 単語の種類

    付属語

  • 使用域

    一般

About だろう

だろう is a conjugated form of , 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.
  • (まえ)明日(あした)パーティー()だろ
    You are going to the party tomorrow, right?
  • 明日(あした)()だろう
    It will probably be clear tomorrow.
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、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

  • ここいいだろう

    This place here is good, isn't it?

  • あなただろう

    It's you, isn't it.

  • これペンだろう

    This is a pen. (right?)

  • 今夜(こんや)(いそが)しいだろう

    Tonight is busy, isn't it.

  • これ(みず)だろう

    This is water, right?

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だろう – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

  • Lamster

    Lamster

    About 3 years ago

    Unless I’m mistaken, “masculine” expressions simply use the plain forms of verbs. There’s nothing inherently “masculine” about that.

    It’s just that society thinks it’s more acceptable for men to speak in a plain/not particularly polite way, while women are supposed to be polite and cute and cultured and whatever.

    I’d suggest just learning the grammar and then deciding for yourself what’s acceptable to use for you and in which situations. And until you can do that, just use the polite form of everything, regardless of your gender.

  • MZa

    MZa

    About 2 years ago

    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

    About 2 years ago

    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.

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