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Kotomora
JLPT N5EverydayGuessing and checking

でしょう・だろうprobably; …, right?

Said with a falling voice, でしょう is "probably": your guess about something you can't know for sure. With a rising voice it is "right?": you expect the other person to agree. だろう is the plain form.

How to form it

Plain form + でしょう/だろう

行いくでしょう, 行いかないでしょう, 行いったでしょう, 高たかいでしょう. A noun or a な-adjective drops だ: 雨あめでしょう, 静しずかでしょう (but 雨あめだったでしょう). でしょう is the polite part, so the word before it stays plain.

Probably or right? The voice tells you

Tomorrow's meeting starts at ten, right?

The voice rises. You are checking with someone who knows.

In writing, the rising one usually has a question mark.

Probably

The weather, the future, what someone else is doing. Weather forecasts are full of it.

Since it is Sunday, this shop is probably closed.

Thought to yourself, or written. Spoken on its own, だろう is blunt, and mostly men say it.

In conversation: と思おもいます

Tanaka will probably come.

Sure of itself. In conversation it can sound like a forecaster or a teacher.

たぶん, "probably", often goes in front. Alone, たぶん。 is an answer.

Not for your own plans

Sounds odd: 私わたしは明日あした、京きょう都とへ行いくでしょう。

I will probably go to Kyoto tomorrow.

What you have decided isn't a guess. For a plan, 行いきます; if you aren't sure, たぶん行いくと思おもいます.

You think you are right, and the other person can tell you so: they know the fact, or they can see, taste or feel the same thing.

B chose the cake. Alone, でしょ? is a pleased "see?".

It expects a yes

So it can sound pushy to a teacher, a boss or a customer.

The test is next week, right?

As if you were telling the teacher.

The test is next week, isn't it?

ですよね checks the same thing without pressing.

I told you so, didn't I?

Said sharply, it scolds. A parent, to a child.

Close neighbours

かもしれないN4

"Might": possible, but you wouldn't bet on it.

と思おもうN4

"I think": the everyday way to give a guess.

ねN5

Shares what you both notice.

よねN5

Checks something you believe, without pressing.

でしょうかN4

With か, a softer and more polite way to ask a question.

ましょうN5

A look-alike. 行いきましょう is "let's go"; 行いくでしょう is "will probably go".

Check yourself

1A friend is eating the curry you made. You say this with a rising voice. What do you mean?

このカレー、おいしいでしょう?

Choose an answer to see why.

2Which one is right?

Choose an answer to see why.

3You have booked your flight home for next month. Which one do you say?

Choose an answer to see why.

More detail

でしょうね

With ね, a guess about how things are for the other person sounds warm.

であろう

In formal writing だろう becomes であろう.

More sentences