だろう - Grammar Discussion

Grammar Points
#1

probably, isn’t it?・right?

Structure

  • Verb + だろう
  • Adjective + だろう
  • Noun + だろう

[casual assertive・masculine・conjecture/guess・low confidence・can be based on some information, but doesn’t have to]

:warning: だろ - Contracted Form

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#2

Hi, I hope this isn’t too dumb–I am having a rough time with grammar I think.

This says it’s Masculine so that means I wouldn’t say it as a woman, right? I learned “でしょう” as the polite form but is there a casual form for women or would I always use “でしょう”. Thanks for your help.

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#3

To be on the safe side, especially as a beginner, でしょう should be used whether you’re male or female.

There are a lot of grammar points that are more formal/feminine and have a casual/masculine form. Generally for beginners, to avoid offending anyone, it’s better to use the formal form. I personally took Japanese classes for years before being taught much casual form stuff.

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#4

@jlam520 thanks for the tips. I’m a woman so I definitely won’t use this one!

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#5

Why must we not use a particle after the noun?

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#6

Unless I’m mistaken, “masculine” expressions simply use the plain forms of verbs. There’s nothing inherently “masculine” about that.

It’s just that society thinks it’s more acceptable for men to speak in a plain/not particularly polite way, while women are supposed to be polite and cute and cultured and whatever.

I’d suggest just learning the grammar and then deciding for yourself what’s acceptable to use for you and in which situations. And until you can do that, just use the polite form of everything, regardless of your gender.

#7

The explanation says that だろう is a conjugated form of だ’. I was wondering which form it is. The おう ending would point to the volitional form. Is that right? If it is, the nuance of だろう compared to だ would make sense.

Edit: i did a bit of research and it seems that my hypothesis is right. Since だ is a shortened である and あろう is the volitional form of ある, であろう would have been shortened in だろう, right?

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#8

Since だろう is just a form of だ as said in the new explanation, I guess there is no more reason to use a particle when using the former than when using the later.

#9

Hi! If だろう is a conjugated form of だ, and だ is not used with verbs, why can だろう be used with verbs? Is there a reasonable explanation?

Maybe it was のだろう initially but then の was omitted, or maybe it goes back to である times or something like that?