LEARN + JAPANESE / 55 of 114 JLPT N4
It Has To Be はず
はず attaches to the plain form and says something should logically be true, based on evidence or reasoning, not just a guess the way かもしれない or だろう would be.
Tom should have given his presentation in class yesterday.
Tom should be free next week.
In Real Life
だろう marks an open guess, かもしれない marks a bare possibility, but はず sits above both, a conclusion you’re confident in because you have a specific reason to believe it, a schedule, a pattern, something you know.
It's open every day, so it should be usable.
The teacher changes every semester, so it shouldn't be Tanaka-sensei.
In Real Life
な-adjectives and nouns insert な before はず, 暇なはず, just as they do before の or のに, while い-adjectives and verbs attach directly. The reasoning behind はず is often spelled out explicitly with から right before it, as both examples above show.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| to give a presentation | |
| to take a day off work | |
| tonight | |
| the day after tomorrow | |
| swimming pool | |
| to return (something) | |
| every semester | |
| to change | |
| event | |
| basis, grounds | |
| to be convinced | |
| plan, schedule | |
| common sense | |
| logical | |
| naturally, of course | |
| certain, no mistake about it | |
| to predict, anticipate | |
| to calculate | |
| evidence | |
| custom, practice |