Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 3: 5/13

でしょうRight?, Probably, Isn't it?

Structure

Tentative
Noun + でしょう
Verb + でしょう
Adjective + でしょう

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Auxiliary Verb

  • Word Type

    Dependent Word

  • Register

    Polite

About でしょう

でしょう is a conjugated form of です, and can also be seen in the contracted form でしょ (more casual). でしょう is regularly translated to 'right?', or 'probably' in English. In a broader sense it just expresses an assertion about something (like です), that the speaker assumes the listener would probably agree with.

In the above, we can see that, in both examples, the speaker is looking for confirmation that/affirming that the listener agrees with them.

As でしょう is a conjugation of です (the polite form of だ), it usually follows the plain form of words, rather than words using ~ます. However, in very formal situations, or older literature ~ますでしょう may be seen.

Caution

Despite sounding relatively low confidence, using でしょう implies that the speaker has some form of information that makes them believe that the (A) statement is true.

Synonyms



Examples

--:--

    これあなた(ほん)でしょう

    This is your book, right?

    いいでしょう

    It is probably good. (right?)

    明日(あした)(さむ)でしょう

    It will probably be cold tomorrow.

    あなたトムでしょう

    You are Tom, right?

    これいい(くるま)でしょう

    This is a good car, right?

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でしょう – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

  • mrhollow

    mrhollow

    I answered ですよ twice now, that’s what I think when I see the hint, “polite, assertive”
    What’s the difference?

  • casual

    casual

    Sentence-ending particle よ specifically implies the speaker is telling the listener new information.

    これはあなたの本でしょう。
    I think this is probably your book.

    これはあなたの本ですよ。
    I know for sure that this is your book, and it looks to me like you don’t think so/don’t recognize it/have forgotten that.

    These two are probably distinguishable from translation without hints. But maybe there could be a better hint keyword for でしょう, since it’s not a very assertive assertion.

  • mrhollow

    mrhollow

    ああ、なるほど、ありがとうございます。

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