adverbial N2 uncommon politewritten

果たして — sure enough / as expected

果たしてはたして

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Meaning

① ①: sure enough / just as one expected — a prediction has been borne out
② ②: (in a question) really / actually — opens a doubtful or rhetorical question

Key sentence

① ①
Sure enough, his prediction came true.
② ②
Will this plan really go well, I wonder?

Formation

Attaches toFormExample
Adverb 果はたして + clause (sense ①) / 果はたして + question 〜だろうか・〜か (sense ②) 果はたして〜だろうか

Examples

① ①
I'd been worried, and sure enough it turned out exactly that way.
② ②
Is what he says actually true?

Easily confused with

案の定 Both can mean 'sure enough', but 案あんの定じょう specifically confirms a feared/bad outcome; 果はたして is neutral and adds the question use '(really?)' that 案あんの定じょう doesn't have. やはり やはり = 'as expected / after all' in everyday speech; 果はたして (sense ①) is more formal and literary for the same confirming function.

Notes

See 果たして in real sentences

Jengo shows 果たして the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.

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