adverbial N2 common politewritten
おそらく — probably / in all likelihood
おそらく
Meaning
- probably / in all likelihood — a confident but hedged prediction, formal in tone
Key sentence
明日はおそらく晴れるだろう。
It will probably be sunny tomorrow.
Usage
Formal and writing-leaning; pairs with だろう / でしょう / と思う. In casual speech たぶん is the natural equivalent.
Examples
おそらく彼は会議に間に合わないでしょう。
He probably won't make it to the meeting in time.
原因はおそらく機械の故障だ。
The cause is most likely a machine breakdown.
Easily confused with
Notes
- More formal counterpart of たぶん; common in news, reports, and analysis.
See おそらく in real sentences
Jengo shows おそらく 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.