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JLPT N5Expressions

だろう／でしょう— Probability & Seeking Agreement

Placed at the end of a sentence to express probability ('probably', 'I think') or, with rising intonation, to seek agreement ('right?'). だろう is casual; でしょう is polite.

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Pro lessonUNIT 40 · EXPRESSIONS

Structure · 形

[Plain-form sentence] + だろう (casual) / でしょう (polite)

Examples · 例文

  • 明日は雨でしょう。

    Ashita wa ame deshou.

    It will probably rain tomorrow.

    Falling intonation = stating a probability.

  • これ、美味しいでしょう？

    Kore, oishii deshou?

    This is delicious, isn't it?

    Rising intonation = seeking agreement or confirmation.

  • 彼は今日も忙しいだろう。

    Kare wa kyou mo isogashii darou.

    He is probably busy today too.

    Plain adjective 忙しい + だろう — the casual counterpart of でしょう.

Usage notes · 注意

  • でしょう implies fairly high confidence based on knowledge or intuition, but not certainty — weather forecasts use it constantly.
  • With nouns/な-adjectives, attach directly (雨でしょう, 静かでしょう); no だ before だろう/でしょう.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones だろう／でしょう is tested against.

vsかもしれない

かもしれない = 'might / maybe' (lower confidence, ~50%); でしょう expresses higher confidence ('probably').

vsと思う

と思う states YOUR personal opinion ('I think'); でしょう makes a more general/objective prediction and can also invite the listener's agreement.

More expressions

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