NihongoShark

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Super-Uper-Duber-Blooper Important Note: If you want to see the (very awesome) audio and video content for this lesson, check out the webpage version.
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(Note: This is a series of lessons on でしょう／だろう. Here's the first one, here's the second one, and here's the third one.)

I know you’re probably starting to hate でしょう.

Maybe even starting to hate me?!

T_T

But we’re almost finished.

Just. Two. More. Lessons.

Today we’re looking at the last type of でしょう, which is the “でしょう of Conjecture.” Specifically, we’re looking at how this でしょう is used in weather forecasts...

Types of でしょう／だろう

Classic でしょう
a. Seeking Agreement (ii.)
b. Seeking Verification (i.)
c. Expressing Sympathy (i.)
Inward でしょう (iii.)
でしょう of Conjecture (iv.)
a. Weather でしょう
b. General Conjecture

While “Classic でしょう” means something like “right?” or “don’t you think?” and “Inward でしょう” means something like “how very!,” the “でしょう of Conjecture” means something like “probably” or “most likely.”
This is でしょう is a particularly common word in 天気予報（てんきよほう / weather forecasts）：

明日は雨が降るでしょう。

あした　は　あめ　が　ふる　でしょう。

It will likely rain tomorrow. // It will probably rain tomorrow.

"tomorrow + は + rain + が + fall + でしょう."

Like all of the でしょう that we've seen before, this attaches to plain form nouns, adjectives, and verbs. For weather forecasts, it will often attach to verbs like 降る（ふる / "to fall (rain, snow, etc.)"）and 晴れる（はれる / "to be clear"）.

More examples...

明日は全国的に晴れるでしょう。

あした　は　ぜんこくてき　に　はれる　でしょう。

Tomorrow there will be clear skies all across the country.

“tomorrow + は + country-wide + に + be clear (weather) + でしょう.”

明日は一時的に雪が降るでしょう。

あした　は　いちじてき　に　ゆき　が　ふる　でしょう。

Tomorrow there will likely be some snowfall. // Tomorrow it will snow briefly.

“tomorrow + は + temporarily + snow + が + fall + でしょう.”

It was hard for me to translate this word 一時的に（いちじてきに）, “temporarily,” into a weather forecast.

一日中強い雨が降るでしょう。

いちにちじゅう　つよい　あめ　が　ふる　でしょう。

There will likely be heavy rain all day. // It will likely rain heavily all day.

“all day + strong + rain + が + fall + でしょう.”

To give a real-life example, I pulled a weather forecast from YouTube, then spliced out a brief section:

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NOTE: The video is on the webpage version of this lesson.
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Here's the full audio:

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NOTE: Audio files are all on the webpage version of this lesson.
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This forecaster is talking fast!!

So don't fret if you can't catch everything she's saying.

To Rei's surprise, though, I was able to transcribe the whole thing!

I did so just for you...

So here is a breakdown of each sentence:

では、明日の予報を見ていきます。

では、　あす　の　よほう　を　みていきます。

Next, let's look at tomorrow's weather forecast.

"well then + tomorrow + の + forecast + を + look and + go."

Note: Japanese people love to say that they speak clearly and enunciate every word, but here we can see that she is combining the sounds of の and the よ in 予報（よほう）, making it sound (to me) like にょ. Maybe my listening just sucks?

日本海側は広く雨や雪となります

にほんかいがわ　は　ひろく　あめ　や　ゆき　と　なります

There will be rain and snow all along the Sea of Japan (side of Japan).

"Japanese Sea + side + は + widely + rain + や + snow + と + become."

I had to translate the word 日本海側（にほんがいがわ / "the Sea of Japan side (of the country)"for a translation test once. I still have no idea how to translate that.

九州や四国、沖縄なども、一時雨が降りそうです

きゅうしゅう　や　しこく、　おきなわ　など　も、　いちじ　あめ　が　ふりそう　です

There will most likely be brief showers in Kyushu, Shikoku, Okinawa, and so on.

"Kyushu + や + Shikoku, + Okinawa + and so on + also, + temporary + rain + が + looks like it will fall."

Learning place-names is an often overlooked aspect of learning a language, yeah?

三時間ごとの予報、札幌から東京です

さんじかんごと　の　よほう、　さっぽろ　から　とうきょう　です

Here are the 3-hour weather forecasts from Sapporo to Tokyo.

"every three hours + の + forecast, + Sapporo + from + Tokyo + is."

This sentence shows just how flexible Japanese grammar can be. It's just a bunch of nouns!

札幌は雪、北陸は雨でしょう

さっぽろ　は　ゆき、　ほくりく　は　あめ　でしょう

There will most likely be snow in Sapporo in Sapporo and rain in the Hokuriku region.

"Sapporo + は + snow + Hokuriku (region) + は + rain + でしょう."

Here it is! Weather でしょう！！

仙台や長野、今日より三度前後、気温が高くなりそうです

せんだい　や　ながの、　きょう　より　さんど　ぜんご、　きおん　が　たかく　なりそう　です

It will probably be about three degrees warmer than today around Sendai and Nagoya.

"Sendai + や + Nagano, + today + more than + 3 degrees + around (=before and behind), + temperature + が + high + become."

It was really, really difficult for me to catch the word-combo 三度前後（さんどぜんご / "around 3 degrees"）.

名古屋から那覇にかけてです

なごや　から　なは　にかけて　です

Now from Nagoya to Naha.

"Nagoya + from + Naha + にかけて + is."

Yeah, I don't know what to say for にかけて. Dictionaries say it can mean "about; at; concerning." I'll probably write a grammar lesson about it someday.

By the way, the verb かける has too many meanings! It's like trying to teach all of the meanings of the word "get" in English. Get out of here! Get real! Get it together and get it figured out yourself or get on your way, because I can't get my students to get "get."

松江は夕方から雨でしょう

まつえ　は　ゆうがた　から　あめ　でしょう

Matsue will probably see rain from the evening onward.

"Matsue + は + evening + from + rain + でしょう."

Here it is again!! でしょう！！

九州は昼前後中心に雨となりまして、各地気温は高めとなりそうです

きゅうしゅう　は　ひる　ぜんご　ちゅうしん　に　あめ　と　なりまして、　かくち　きおん　は　たかめ　と　なりそう　です

In Kyushu, it will likely rain sometime around midday, with higher temperatures throughout the region.

"Kyushu + は + midday / noon + around ( = before and after) + focused around + rain + と + become and, + each area + temperatures + は + high + と + looks like it will become."

Yikes.

Weather Japanese is hard, man.

Anyways...

Although I called this lesson “Weather でしょう,” in reality “Weather でしょう” is just a subset of the “でしょう of Conjecture,” which, as luck would have it, we’ll be exploring even further tomorrow.

Bonus Phrases

天気予報みてみよう。

てんきよほう　みて　みよう。

I think I'll take a look at the weather forecast. // Let's check the weather forecast.

This beat is fire, right - Part IV

Bonus Phrases

HJS Contents

JLPT N3

JLPT N2

NDL

Onomatopoeia

Table of Contents1

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