11.6 ～はずだ — Should Be / Ought to Be

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Overview

Learn ～はずだ, used to express a logical expectation — something you believe should be the case based on prior knowledge or reasoning. Also learn ～はずがない for "there is no way that ~".

～はずだ — logical expectation

Plain form + はずだ

～はずだ expresses that based on what you know, something should be or is expected to be true. It implies reasoning, not just intuition.

Attachment:

Verb plain form + はずだ
い-adjective + はずだ
な-adjective + な + はずだ
Noun + の + はずだ

。

He should already be here (I know he was coming).

。

If you press this button it should open.

。

There's no way she knows (she can't possibly know).

～はずがない / ～はずはない — no way

The negative form expresses strong denial of a logical possibility:

。

There is no way that could happen.

。

There's no way he would lie.

～はずだった — expected but didn't happen

The past tense expresses something that should have happened but didn't:

、。

They should have arrived by now

but they haven't come.

Contrast with ～と思う and ～ようだ

Pattern	Basis
～と思う	personal opinion / gut feeling
～ようだ	direct observation
～はずだ	logical reasoning / knowledge

Dialogue

あAきごう：たなか田中さんはもうきています来ていますか。 bBきごう：さんじ3時にくる来るはずですが、まだですね。

あAきごう：このふぁいるファイル、どこですか。 bBきごう：つくえ机のうえ上にあるはずです。

あAきごう：かのじょ彼女はこのはなし話をしっています知っていますか。 bBきごう：しっている知っているはずがありません。まだいっていない言っていないので。

A: Is Tanaka-san here yet? B: She should come at 3, but not yet.

A: Where is this file? B: It should be on the desk.

A: Does she know about this? B: There's no way she knows. I haven't told her yet.

New words

11.5 ～ようだ・みたいだ — Looks Like / Seems Like

11.7 ～に違いない — Must Be

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