Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 8: 9/18

筈(はず)だBound to (be), Expected to (be), Should be (able)

There is also another, even less used kanji for はず：弭。

Structure

Verb + はず + だ
［い］Adjective + はず + だ
［な］Adjective + な + はず + だ
Noun + の + はず + だ

Details

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About はずだ

はず, coming from the kanji 筈(はず), is a word in Japanese that is very similar to 'bound' in English. This means that it expresses something that the speaker is 'quite sure is true', but cannot confirm. The most common translations of はず are 'bound to be (A)', and 'should be (A)'.

As はず is a noun, it may be used in any place that a noun would usually be used. It will often be followed by だ, or です.

Caution

Despite はず sometimes being translated as 'should', this is only when you think that something 'should be true', and cannot be used when making suggestions/giving advice. Due to this, 'bound' is the more accurate translation of 筈(はず), in almost all situations.

Fun Fact

The だ (or です) in はずだ may be omitted. This usually makes はず sound a little less certain, like 'bound to be (A)... probably'. In the same way, speakers may sometimes add はず to the end of their sentences in a similar way to 多分(たぶん), in order to show that they are not 100% certain about whether what they just said is accurate or not.

  • ハリーも今日(きょう)のパーティーに行(い)く…はず。
    Harry will go to the party today… Probably.
  • 出(で)かける前(まえ)に家(いえ)の中(なか)の電気(でんき)は全部(ぜんぶ)消(け)した… はず。
    I turned off all the lights in my house before I left… I'm pretty sure.

Examples

--:--

    彼(かれ)は借(か)りたペンを返(かえ)す筈(はず)だ。

    He is bound to return the pen he borrowed. (expected to)

    夏(なつ)だから、暑(あつ)い筈(はず)だ。

    Because it is summer, it is expected to be hot. (bound to be)

    ここから富士山(ふじさん)が見(み)える筈(はず)だ。

    One should be able to see Mt. Fuji from here. (bound to)

    この港(みなと)には船(ふね)がある筈(はず)だ。

    There are bound to be boats in this harbor. (expected to be)

    脱出(だっしゅつ)した犯人(はんにん)が見(み)つかる筈(はず)だ。

    The escaped convict is bound to be found. (expected to be)

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        • Genki II 1st Edition

          Page 142

        • Genki II 2nd Edition

          Page 172

        • みんなの日本語 II

          Page 132 [CH 46]

        • [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

          Page 133

        • Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide

          Page 305

        • [AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese

          Page 153

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      はずだ – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (9 in total)

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        Hey

        According to the great suggestion, I have added the information to the grammar point!

        Cheers,

        PS
        Sorry for late answer (basically I have been sick for last few weeks )

      • Ambo100

        Ambo100

        Perhaps the grammar point should just be はず? In the examples used in Genki it uses はずです and the DBJG item is just はず giving examples that use both だ and です.

        The structure section could be rephrased as はず + ( だ/です)

      • Howl_UK

        Howl_UK

        There is a Japanese Ammo video for this.

        https://youtu.be/a2XeZexCuco

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