と言える - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

would/could say that…
can probably say that…
fair to say that…

Structure

  • Phrase + と言える + だろう/でしょう

Alternatives

  • Phrase + といえよう
  • Phrase + ともいえる

:warning: と言える by itself makes the statement much more frank. Formal.

[と言ってもいいだろう・でしょう - speaker is less sure/confident than と言えるだろう・でしょう]

[Used when the writer/speaker is confident about what he/she is going to say, but at the same time softens the tone of the statement with words expressing conjecture]

[だろう and でしょう are often used this way with other verbs, for example when very politely asking for permission: 質問してもよろしいでしょうか]

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#2

this is driving me totally nuts! sometimes it’s だろう sometimes でしょう…but both are not valid answers to the sentences even though they seem to mean the same thing.

Can someone explain the subtle difference in meaning as to why といえばだろう vs といえばでしょう and why one is right and one is wrong on a case by case???

#3

I tried with cram and it accepted both for me. Is it possible you’re typoing it in review too and not just in this post (you wrote 言えば but it should be 言える)?

#4

didn’t think I was doing that but maybe…the behavior was a little strange…but I have since restarted the computer so we shall see how it goes today :slight_smile:

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#5

The difference is politeness level!

If it’s a polite sentence, switching to だろう is ungrammatical. On a casual sentence, でしょう is not terribly wrong but it feels off.

You don’t say: 先生、東京タワーをご覧になりましたか。すごいだろう？ since its a bit jarring. Hope this helps!