modality N4 common casualpolitewritten
〜はずだ — it should be ~
〜はずだ ・ はずだ
Builds on 〜はず
Meaning
- should be ~ / is supposed to ~ / ought to be ~ — a confident expectation the speaker reasons out from known facts
Key sentence
彼はもう着いているはずだ。
He should have arrived by now.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| plain verb / i-adjective | V/A(plain) + はずだ | 着いているはずだ / 高いはずだ |
| na-adjective / noun | na-adj + な + はずだ; N + の + はずだ | 静かなはずだ / 休みのはずだ |
Variants
〜はずだった — 〜はずだった = 'was supposed to ~ (but it didn't happen).' 今日届くはずだったのに。 — 'It was supposed to arrive today, but...'
Examples
予約したから、席はあるはずだ。
I made a reservation, so there should be seats.
彼女は日本で育ったから、漢字が読めるはずだ。
She grew up in Japan, so she should be able to read kanji.
約束は三時だったはずだけど。
The plan was supposed to be three o'clock, I thought.
When you can't use it
- はず is an expectation the speaker deduces — not a duty. 'You should study' as advice is 勉強するべきだ, not ✗勉強するはずだ (which would mean 'he's expected to study').
Easily confused with
〜べきだ The classic mix-up. はずだ = expectation ('I expect it's so'); べきだ = obligation ('it's the right thing to do'). 来るはずだ = I expect him to come; 来るべきだ = he ought to come. 〜に違いない はずだ = a reasoned 'should be' that allows for being wrong; に違いない = near-certain conviction ('must be, I'm sure'). はず is logic; ちがいない is confidence. だろう だろう is a general guess ('probably'); はずだ is grounded in a specific reason the speaker can point to ('he booked it, so there should be a seat'). わけだ はずだ looks forward to what should be true; わけだ looks back and explains a known fact ('no wonder ~'). Expectation vs explanation.
See 〜はずだ in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜はずだ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.