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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    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

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.
  • 今日(きょう)は雨(あめ)が降(ふ)るはずだ。
    It is supposed to rain today. (But I am not 100% sure if it will)
  • 新幹線(しんかんせん)で行(い)った方(ほう)が速(はや)いはずだ。
    It is bound to be faster if we go by shinkansen. (But I am not 100% sure if it will)
  • 彼(かれ)は魚(さかな)が嫌(きら)いだから寿司(すし)は嫌(きら)いなはずだ。
    He does not like fish, so he is sure to dislike sushi. (But I am not 100% sure if he will)
  • 頼(たの)んだのはコーヒーのはずだったけどお茶(ちゃ)が来(き)た。
    I was sure that I ordered coffee, but tea came. (But I am not 100% sure if I did)
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)すはずだ。

    He is bound to return the pen he borrowed.

  • 妻(つま)は夜(よる)七時(しちじ)までに、帰(かえ)ってくるはずだ。

    My wife is expected to return home by seven o'clock.

  • 夏(なつ)だから、暑(あつ)いはずだ。

    Because it is summer, it is supposed to be hot.

  • ここから富士山(ふじさん)が見(み)えるはずだ。

    One should be able to see Mt. Fuji from here.

  • この港(みなと)には船(ふね)があるはずだ。

    There are bound to be boats in this harbor.

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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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