Structure
はたして + (Question) Phrase
はたして + Phrase
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Standard
使用域
一般
About はたして
果たして, being the て-form of the う-Verb 果たす 'to fulfill', or 'to come to fruition', is an expression that is used adverbially to strengthen phrases of speculation. It may be translated as 'I wonder if (A)', 'how actually (A)', or 'how really (A)'.
果たして will often be seen paired with other structures that indicate speculation, such as だろうか, でしょうか, かな, or かしら; and can be thought of as just emphasizing them further.
As this grammar point will be used adverbially, it will primarily appear at the beginning of sentences.
果たして will often be seen paired with other structures that indicate speculation, such as だろうか, でしょうか, かな, or かしら; and can be thought of as just emphasizing them further.
As this grammar point will be used adverbially, it will primarily appear at the beginning of sentences.
- 果たして彼が言っていることは本当なのだろうか。I wonder if what he is saying is the truth.
- 果たして、あのやり方で本当に成功するのでしょうか。I wonder if that approach will really work.
- 彼は取引先の信頼を失う事をしてしまった。果たして、彼はクビになった。He did something to lose the trust of his clients. As expected he was fired.
- 彼女は自分の意見を彼に押し付けようとしたが、果たして彼は自分の意見を変えなかった。She tried to push her opinions onto him, but as expected he did not change his.
Fun-fact - Coming from the base meaning of 果たす 'to come to fruition', 果たして can be thought of as similar to 'in the end' in almost all cases, as it merely expresses the speakers thought process about 'what will' or 'what has' happened 'in the end'.
- 大学院に進学するのは果たして私にメリットがあるのでしょうか?I wonder if going on to graduate school will actually benefit me in the end.
- 彼以外誰も仕事に来なかったため、果たして彼が全員の仕事をすることになった。Since no one came to work except him, he ended up having to do everyone's job in the end as expected.
Synonyms
Examples
迷子:「果たしてどうやって帰るの?」
Lost child: 'I wonder how will I actually get back home?'
最近、「スポーツは健康に等しい」とスローガンをよく耳にする。果たしてそれは本当なのでしょうか。
Lately, I often hear the slogan 'Sport is equal to health'. I wonder if that is really the case?
ある人は地球が平らであると証明しようとしたが、果たして失敗した。
A certain person tried to prove that the Earth was flat, however, just as expected that person failed to do so.
A:「バンジージャンプしてみたいなぁ〜。」
B:「はたしてできるかしら?」A: 'I want to try bungee jumping.'
B: 'I wonder if you can actually do it?'大学を中退するのは果たして賢明な行動でしょうか。
I wonder if dropping out of university is really a wise thing to do?
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はたして – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (2 in total)
FredKore
Can someone explain the nuance here?
ゆきさんとともこさんは長い間、付き合っていた。 はたして 、彼らは結婚した。
The English translation uses “sure enough”, which sounds like high certainty, but the grammar explanation says this expresses assumption or skepticism, which sounds like low certainty?
Fuga
Hey @FredKore !
This expression is used to express skepticism when used with words like, だろうか、でしょうか、であろうか. If the phrase that comes after はたして is not expressing skepticism, it is used as ‘sure enough’ with the nuance of high certainty.
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