Translation guide
The English word 'hunch' can refer to an intuitive feeling or suspicion, or to a hunched posture. This guide focuses on expressing the intuitive feeling sense in Japanese, as the physical posture is a separate concept.
Expressing a gut feeling, intuition, or suspicion about something, often without concrete evidence.
The most direct and common translation for 'hunch' as a premonition or intuitive feeling. Often used in the phrase (to have a hunch).
I have a good hunch about this.
I had a hunch that something bad would happen.
Refers to intuition, sixth sense, or gut feeling. Often used in casual contexts. 勘が働く means one's intuition is working.
His hunches are often right.
Women's intuition is scary, isn't it?
Means intuition or instinct. Slightly more formal than 勘. Often used for immediate, instinctive judgments.
I decided based on a hunch.
She has sharp intuition.
A very common phrase meaning 'I have a feeling that...' or 'I get the sense that...'. It expresses a vague hunch or impression.
I have a hunch he won't come.
I have a hunch I'm forgetting something.
Literally 'insect's notice', this is a somewhat old-fashioned or literary expression for a premonition or foreboding, often of something bad.
I had a hunch and called home.
Describing a physical posture where the back is curved and shoulders are forward.
予感 is a premonition about a future event, often with emotional nuance. 勘 is a gut feeling or sixth sense, often based on experience. 直感 is immediate intuition or instinct, often without conscious reasoning. In many casual contexts, 勘 and 直感 are interchangeable, but 予感 is more about sensing something will happen.
I have a bad feeling about this.
His hunch was wrong.
I intuitively thought so.
There is no direct verb equivalent of 'to hunch' in the sense of having a feeling. Use phrases like 予感がする or 気がする instead. For the physical posture, use 背中を丸める or 猫背になる.