Lesson 24 — Expressing Probability and Certainty

Overview

Japanese has several expressions for stating how certain you are about something. Choosing the right one communicates exactly how confident you feel — from a faint possibility to near-total certainty. This lesson covers the three most important:

ExpressionCertainty levelEnglish
かもしれないLow — a possibility“might be / maybe”
にちがいないHigh — strong conviction“must be / no doubt”
はずだHigh — logical expectation“should be / is supposed to be”


💡 Think of these as points on a confidence scale:

かもしれない ──── はずだ ──── にちがいない

(maybe)      (should be)    (must be)

low ←──────── certainty ────────→ high

—From here on, it will be available to members only

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