Guessing using deshou and kamoshiremasen

Guessing using deshou and kamoshiremasen

Two Japanese expressions, でしょう (deshou) and かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) will be introduced. They are both used to indicate that the speaker is making a judgement or guess about what may possibly happen.
However there are also differences between the two of them. Let's go through them one by one.

でしょう (deshou)
でしょう (deshou) is normally used to express the speaker's inference or guess from some information he or she has. The sentence patterns are as follow...

Verb plain-form	でしょう
い-adjective plain-form	でしょう
な-adjective plain-form (～だ)	でしょう
Noun plain-form (～だ)	でしょう

Note: For な-adjective & noun, remove the ending だ before でしょう

For example, after looking at the dark sky, you think that it's going to rain. You can say this...

空がとても暗いですから、雨が降るでしょう。
sora ga totemo kurai desu kara, ame ga furu deshou
The sky is very dark, it will probably rain.

In fact, でしょう (deshou) is always used in the weather forecast in Japan. When you are listening to the Japanese news next time, take note of whether the Japanese weathercaster has used this Japanese expression.

More examples

あのレストランの前にはいつも大勢人がいますから、有名 だ でしょう。
ano resutoran no mae niwa itsumo oozei hito ga imasu kara, yuumei da deshou
There are always many people crowded in front of that restaurant. (Therefore) it might be famous.

マイクさんは十年日本に住んでいましたから、たぶん奥さんは日本人 だ でしょう。
maiku san wa juunen nihon ni sunde imashita kara, tabun okusan wa nihonjin dadeshou
Mike had lived in Japan for ten years. (Therefore) his wife might probably be a Japanese.

Some points to note

1. The adverb たぶん (tabun), which means "probably", is used quite often with でしょう (deshou), just like in example 2 above.
2. Sometimes だろう (darou) is used instead of でしょう (deshou), especially for man. And だろう (darou) is also the plain-form of でしょう (deshou).
3. When you are reading the above examples, the intonation for でしょう (deshou) is going down. However, if the intonation is going up, it becomes a question to someone and you are seeking his or her agreement. For example...

あの人は田中さんでしょう。 ↘(intonation going down)
ano hito wa tanaka san deshou
I guess that person is Ms Tanaka.

あの人は田中さんでしょう。 ↗(intonation going up)
ano hito wa tanaka san deshou
I guess that person is Ms Tanaka. Is my guess correct?
(You are guessing that person is Ms Tanaka. But you want to confirm that your guess is correct)

かもしれません (kamoshiremasen)

かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) is also used to express the speaker's inference or guess about what may possibly happen, though he or she cannot be absolutely certain.

When the speaker says かもしれません (kamoshiremasen), he or she is also aware that the opposite could be true. The degree of certainty is much lower than that of でしょう (deshou) in this case.

Both Japanese expressions share the same sentence patterns. So following that of でしょう (deshou), the sentence patterns of かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) are...

Verb plain-form	かもしれません
い-adjective plain-form	かもしれません
な-adjective plain-form (～だ)	かもしれません
Noun plain-form (～だ)	かもしれません

Note: For な-adjective & noun, remove the ending だ before かもしれません

Examples

約束の時間に間に合わないかもしれません。
yakusoku no jikan ni maniawanai kamoshiremasen
We might not be in time for the appointment.

東京は今日寒いかもしれません。
toukyou wa kyou samui kamoshiremasen
It might be cold in Tokyo today.

山田さんは田中さんが好き だ かも知れません。
yamada san wa tanaka san ga suki da kamoshiremasen
There is a possibility that Mr Yamada likes Ms Tanaka.

鈴木さんの部屋は電気がついていません。もう部屋にいないかもしれません。
suzuki san no heya wa denki ga tsuite imasen. mou heya ni inai kamoshiremasen
The light in Mr Suzuki's room is off. He might have left his room already.

もしかしたら3月に卒業できないかもしれません。
moshikashitara san gatsu ni sotsugyou dekinai kamoshiremasen
There is a possibility that I might be unable to graduate in March.

大きい地震があるかもしれませんから、旅行の前に保険に入ろうと思っています。
ookii jishin ga aru kamoshiremasen kara, ryokou no mae ni hoken ni hairou to omotte imasu
There is a possibility of a big earthquake, therefore I am thinking of getting the insurance before my trip.

Some points to note

1. In the earlier example if I were to say 大きい地震があるでしょうから (ookii jishin ga aru deshoukara), it will sound very weird. It's like I am predicting and are 90% sure that there will be a big earthquake happening and therefore I have to get the insurance.

Although we can't really predict whether an earthquake is going to happen, there is still a possibility that it may happen. 

However the possibility is very much lower (may be 1% or lower). In this case, かもしれません (kamoshiremasen) is more appropriate.

2. The adverb もしかしたら (moshikashitara), which means "perhaps", is used quite often with かもしれません (kamoshiremasen), just like in example 5 above.

3. かもしれない (kamoshirenai) is the plain-form of かもしれません (kamoshiremasen).

Differences between the two Japanese expressions
Degree of certainty

Although both Japanese expressions でしょう and かもしれません are guesses, the degrees of certainty are different. For でしょう, the speaker is more certain about the guess (80% to 90%). Whereas for かもしれません, the certainty is much lower. Maybe 50%, 20%, 10% or even 1%.

As such, the weathercaster in Japanese news will only use でしょう when forecasting weather. If the weathercaster uses かもしれません, no one will believe the forecast.

Prediction of Speaker’s volitional action
でしょう cannot be used when predicting the speaker's volitional action. かもしれません, on the other hand can be used when referring to the speaker's own action or action of other people. For example...

私は来年結婚するでしょう。 X
watashi wa rainen kekkon suru deshou X

私は来年結婚するかもしれません。 O
watashi wa rainen kekkon suru kamoshiremasen O
I guess I will marry next year.

Prediction of future event

でしょう is often used for prediction of future event.

Depending on the situation that you are in, learn to use these two Japanese expressions でしょう and かもしれません correctly

You desu

You desu

Some people may mixed up this expression with そうです (sou desu), or 目の"そう" (me no "sou"). However, they are two different expressions.

Japanese expression ようです (you desu) conveys the speaker's subjective conjecture, which is based on the information obtained through his or her sensory organs.

As usual, let's check out the sentence patterns first...

Verb	plain-form	ようです
い-adj	plain-form	ようです
な-adj	plain-form(～だ → ～な)	ようです
Noun	plain-form(～だ → ～の)	ようです

Let's see how to use ようです (you desu) with an example...

交差点に人が大勢集まっていますね。事故のようです。
kousaten ni hito ga oozei atsumatte imasu ne. jiko no you desu
There is a big crowd at the cross junction. It looks like there's an accident.

Based on the big crowd that you saw at the cross junction, you deduced that there's been an accident.

Sometimes you might want to begin your ようです (you desu) sentence with the adverb どうも (doumo) which suggests you cannot be certain if what you are saying is a fact. For example...

咳も出るし、頭も痛いです。どうも風邪をひいたようです。
seki mo deru shi, atama mo itai desu. doumo kaze wo hiita you desu
I have a cough and a headache. It seems like I have caught a cold.

More examples on Japanese expression you desu

道が濡れています。雨が降ったようです。
michi ga nurete imasu. ame ga futta you desu
The street is wet. It seems like it has rained.

アランさんはずっと勉強していますね。宿題がたくさんあるようです。
aran san wa zutto benkyoushite imasu ne. shukudai ga takusan aru you desu
Alan has been studying for a long time. It seems like he has a lot of homework.

あのレストランはいつも込んでいます。料理はおいしいようです。
ano resutoran wa itsumo konde imasu. ryouri wa oishii you desu
That restaurant is always so crowded. It seems like the food there is delicious.

事務所の電気が消えています。誰もいないようです。
jimusho no denki ga kiete imasu. daremo inai you desu
The office light is off. It looks like no one is there.

田中さんは魚を食べません。嫌いなようです。
tanaka san wa sakana wo tabemasen. kirai na you desu
Ms Tanaka doesn't eat fish. It looks like she doesn't like fish.

時計が今朝から動きません。故障のようです。
tokei ga kesa kara ugokimasen. koshou no you desu
The clock is not moving since this morning. It seems like it's out of order.

山田さんは病院に行きました。病気のようです。
yamada san wa byouin ni ikimashita. byouki no you desu
Mr Yamada went to the hospital. It looks like he is sick

Difference between そうです (sou desu) and ようです (you desu).

It's common that people get confused between そうです (sou desu) and ようです (you desu). Let's use an example to differentiate this two Japanese expressions.

先生は忙しそうです。
sensei wa isogashi sou desu                                   Teacher seems to be busy.

先生は忙しいようです。
sensei wa isogashii you desu                                  It seems that teacher is busy.

In example 1, it indicates an intuitive judgement based on what you have seen of your teacher's condition or behaviour. In example 2, it indicates your judgement based on what you have read, heard or been told about your teacher.

Another function for Japanese expression Noun のようです (Noun no you desu) 

Sometimes you can use Noun のようです (Noun no you desu) to describe something by using thing similar to it. It's often used in the following sentence pattern...

Topic は Noun のようです

For example, if you want to describe a hotel you saw in the newspaper, you can say..

このホテルはピラミッドのようです。
kono hoteru wa piramiddo no you desu            
This hotel is similar to pyramid.

It will be difficult to describe the shape of the hotel. But if you describe it as similar to the pyramid, it becomes easy to understand. Let's see one more example...

あの人の髪はライオンのようです。
ano hito no kami wa raion no you desu
That person's hair is similar to that of a lion.

Again, it's not easy to describe a person's hair. But if you say it looks similar to that of a lion, immediately people can imagine the image of that person's hair and understand your description.

More examples for topic は  Noun のようです (Noun no you desu) 

この帽子はサンタクロースのようです。
kono boushi wa santakuro-su no you desu
This hat is similar to that of the Santa Claus.

赤ちゃんの頬はりんごのようです。
akachan no hoho wa ringo no you desu
The baby's cheek looks like an apple.

山田さんの髪の色はトマトのようです。
yamada san no kami no iro wa tomato no you desu
Mr Yamada's hair color is similar to the color of a tomato.

Japanese Expressions Noun のような (Noun no you na) and Noun のように (Noun no you ni).

In addition to Noun のようです (Noun no you desu), it can also be modified to get the noun-adjective phrase - Noun のような (Noun no you na) and the adverbial phrase - Noun のように (Noun no you ni). The sentence patterns are as follow...

Noun のような	Noun
Noun のように	Verb/Adjective

When you want to describe one particular noun, you can use Noun のような Noun (Noun no you na Noun). Using the previous examples...

このホテルはピラミッドのような形をしています。
kono hoteru wa piramiddo no you na katachi wo shite imasu
This hotel has got the shape of the pyramid.

あの男の子はサンタクロースのような帽子をかぶっています。
ano otoko no ko wa santakuro-su no you na boushi wo kabutte imasu
That boy is wearing a hat which is similar to that of the Santa Claus.

あの人はライオンのような髪をしています。
ano hito wa raion no you na kami wo shite imasu
That person has hair which is similar to that of a lion.

赤ちゃんはりんごのような頬をしています。
akachan wa ringo no you na hoho wo shite imasu
The baby has apple-like cheeks.

山田さんの髪はトマトのような色をしています。
yamada san no kami wa tomato no you na iro wo shite imasu
Mr Yamada's hair has the color similar to that of a tomato.

When you want to describe somebody's action or describe the adjective, use this Japanese expression Noun のように 

Verb/Adjective (Noun no you ni Verb/Adjective).

For example, if you want to describe how good a man is at swimming, you can say this...

あの男の人は魚のように泳いでいます。
ano otoko no hito wa sakana no you ni oyoide imasu
That man swims like a fish.

You can describe in many ways how good or how fast the man can swim. But the best way to describe is he swims like a fish. People will then know how good he is at swimming.

Similarly, you can describe in many ways how cold the water is. But the best way to describe is that the coldness is similar to that of the ice. Then people can get the idea of how cold it is.

この水は氷のように冷たいです。
kono mizu wa koori no you ni tsumetai desu
This water is as cold as ice.

More examples on Japanese Expression noun のように (Noun no you ni).

この教室は図書館のように静かです。
kono kyoushitsu wa toshokan no you ni shizuka desu
This classroom is as quiet as the library.

私は日本人のように日本語を上手に話したいです。
watashi wa nihonjin no you ni nihongo wo jouzu ni hanashitai desu
I want to speak Japanese as well as the native Japanese.

弟は猿のように上手に木に登れます。
otouto wa saru no you ni jouzu ni ki ni noboremasu
My younger brother can climb the tree skillfully, just like a monkey.

私は鳥のように空を飛びたいです。
watashi wa tori no you ni sora wo tobitai desu
I want to fly in the sky like the bird.