果たして | Grammar

Structure

果たして + [sentence] + だろうか / のだろうか果たして + [sentence] + かどうか果たして + [sentence]

Description

果たして goes at the head of a question and casts doubt on it: "really?", "I wonder whether". It sits at the start of the sentence or clause, and the end is a question – だろうか, のだろうか, のか, or かどうか inside a longer sentence.

。

Is that really true, I wonder?

。

Will this plan really work?

。

I don't know whether I'll really make it in time.

The doubt is a serious one, so 果たして suits essays, news commentary and careful speech. In conversation, ほんとうに本当に with かな does the same job: ほんとうに本当にまにあう間に合うかな.

"Sure enough"

In a statement rather than a question, 果たして means "sure enough": what was expected did happen. This use is literary and rare outside novels.

。

Sure enough, it was just as he had said.

、。

I had been worried, and sure enough I failed the exam.

The adverb is a different word from the て-form of はたす果たす, "carry out": やくそく約束をはたして果たして means "keeping the promise".

Examples

。

Sure enough, his prediction came true.

。

Will this plan really work, I wonder?

、。

I had been worried, and sure enough, I failed the exam.

。

Can humans really live on Mars, I wonder?

、。

Sure enough, just as the rumors said, that store had closed.

。

I doubt whether this medicine will really work.

。

Will she really keep her promise?

、。

I was uneasy, and sure enough, the result was the worst.

、。

No one knows whether such a thing is really possible.

、。

Just as I thought, the train was delayed.

。

Should I really believe what he says?

、。

Whether we can really win the championship – we won't know unless we try.

References

はたしてBunpro