Continuing yesterday's exploration of でしょう and だろう, today we're looking at the different between these two (often interchangeable) phrases.

I think it may help to arrange them in order of “assertiveness.”

Saying “right?” or “don’t you think?” at the end of a sentence is a type of assertion... right? One is expressing their opinion.

In Japanese, you can flavor the strength of that assertion (and give off gender nuances) by switchingでしょう for でしょ, でしょう for だろう, だろう for だろand so on.

Let’s start with this short conversation...

A:
遅れて行ってもいいかな。
おくれて　いっても　いい　かな。
I wonder if it’s all right to show up late.
Literally: “be late and + even if go + good + かな.”
Note: ～てもいい is “OK to ~.” So just, 行ってもいい（いってもいい）, for example, would be “It’s OK to go.” And 行ってもいい?（いってもいい？）would be “Is it OK to go?” Add かな, and 行ってもいいかな is “I wonder if it’s OK to go.” Add 遅れて（おくれて）to the beginning, and we get the translation above.

B:
いいでしょう。
I’m sure it’s fine. // It’ll be fine.
Literally: “good + でしょう.”
Note: The more I look at this, the more I think it may be the “でしょう of Conjecture” (which we’ll look at in a few lessons), not the “Classic でしょう (of verification).” It probably doesn’t matter either way.

We can change the “assertiveness level” of B’s answer by using alternative forms of でしょう.

From low assertion （でしょう）to high assertion （だろ）：

いいでしょう　// I’m sure it’s fine.
いいだろう　// I’m sure it’s fine.
いいでしょ　// I’m sure it’s fine.
いいっしょ　// I’m sure it’s fine.
いいだろ　// I’m sure it’s fine.

Aside from “assertiveness levels,” note that だろう and, in particular, だろ have a masculine sound to them.

It is no coincidence that だろ, being masculine, shows a higher level of assertion, because typically masculine Japanese will be rougher (and less polite). This is one of the reasons that male students of Japanese so often sound like girls when they talk—they don’t teach much “male Japanese” (i.e. “rough Japanese”) in schools.

Consider how, in the following anime excerpts, girls never say だろ...

Audio

それは遠慮するよ
友達同士のほうがいいだろ
それ　は　えんりょ　する　よ
ともだち　どうし　の　ほう　が　いい　だろ
I'll have to pass. It's better to keep that among friends, right?

Literally, #1: “that + は + be reserved / hold back + よ.”
Literally, #2: “friends + fellow / mutual / companion + のほうが + good + だろ.”
Source: Charlotte, Episode 1 (which I’ve never actually seen ^_^)
Note: You would do well to memorize the phrase 遠慮する（えんりょ　する // to hold back; to be reserved）, as you’ll hear it practically every day if you live in Japan. Also, we saw のほうが for comparing two things in another lesson... but I’m sure it’ll get its own lesson someday in the future.

要は　敵討ちだろ？
よう　は　かたきうち　だろ？
So, in other words, you want revenge.

Literally: “in short / the point is + revenge / vengeance + だろ？”
Source: Hunter X Hunter, Episode 1.
Note: I’ve never used 要は（ようは // in short; the point is）to start a sentence. Maybe I should try it! Also, I doubt you’ll need words like 敵討ち（かたきうち）for your own use, but they do pop up a lot in those oh-so-violent anime.

そんな...嘘だろ？！
そんな…　うそ　だろ？！
What the... You've gotta be kidding me!

Literally: “that kind of (thing) + lie + だろ”
Source: Parasyte, Episode 1.
Note: He is getting attacked by an alien parasite using a (flying) dog as its host. I love simple sentences like this. It shows just how easy Japanese can be sometimes.

ミカサ！ もういいだろう！
Mikasa! This is far enough, isn't it?!

Literally: “Mikasa + already + good + だろう”
Source: 進撃の巨人（しんげきのきょじん / Attack on Titan）, Episode 1.
Note: もういい means something like “That’s enough.” It’s used very commonly.

If you’re a girl, instead of だろ, you’d be much more likely to say でしょ.

Like this:

Audio

あの二人のことを考えていたんでしょ？
あの　ふたり　の　こと　を　かんがえていた　ん　でしょ？
You were thinking about those two, weren't you?

Literally: “those + two people + の + thing + を + were thinking about + んでしょ.”
Source: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Episode 1.

ねぇ　タクヤ君たち　今もアルバイトしてるんでしょ？
ねぇ　タクヤくんたち　いま　も　アルバイト　してる　ん　でしょ？
So, you guys are still working, right?

Literally: “ね + Takuya-kun-tachi + now + also + job + are doing + んでしょ？”
Source: The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Episode 1
Note: I think starting a conversation like this with ね sounds a bit feminine... maybe. Also, notice that she just adds たち to his name in order to indicate “you and your friend,” which I think is pretty cool.

This is not to say that guys can’t say でしょ. I still hear guys use this, too.

Rather, girls should probably avoid だろ.

You might want to avoid it with your teachers, too, as it’s not super polite. ^_^

Other... Uh, Stuff...

Another “Highly Assertive でしょう／だろう” is putting ～ろ at the end of plain past nouns, such as in this phrase:

言ったろ！
いったろ！
I told you! // Didn’t I tell you?! // Weren’t you listening?!
Note: This is a very casual (and possibly rude) contraction of 言っただろ.

This only works when attaching to verbs in the plain past tense.

In other words, you CANNOT say something like いいろ.

So let’s look at the verb 終わる（おわる / “to end; to finish”）.

Quick! Put it in plain past tense.

That’s...

...

...

終わった！
おわった！
I’m finished. // You’re finished. // It’s finished. // It’s over.
Note: Lack of context means we’re guessing the subject.

Quick, part 2! How do we say...

“It’s finished, right?” or “You’re finished, right?”

Also, how do we make that phrase in Japanese with varying levels of assertion?

Well...

終わったでしょう（おわったでしょう）
終わっただろう（おわっただろう）
終わったでしょ（おわったでしょ）
終わったっしょ（おわったっしょ）
終わっただろ（おわっただろ）
終わったろ（おわったろ）

You can also add か to the end of でしょう or だろう, which softens the assertion. But this actually changes the meaning of the sentence quite a bit, making it sounds like a genuine question.

We’ll look at this in another lesson.

Example Palace

I’m not going to explain all of these individually, but you should now be starting to notice subtle differences in the following list of phrases.

If you still don’t feel like you understand the differences in nuance, then...

Who cares!

I learned these naturally, for the most part. So you’re already a step ahead of where I was when I was studying, just by reading this lesson.

明日から５連休なんだ。いいでしょう。
あした　から　ご　れんきゅう　なんだ。　いい　でしょう。
I have five days off from tomorrow. Nice, right?
Literally: “tomorrow + from + five consecutive holidays + なんだ. + good + でしょう.”

明日から５連休なんだ。いいでしょ。
あした　から　ご　れんきゅう　なんだ。　いい　でしょ。
I have five days off from tomorrow. Nice, right?
Literally: “tomorrow + from + five consecutive holidays + なんだ. + good + でしょ.”

明日から５連休なんだ。いいっしょ。
あした　から　ご　れんきゅう　なんだ。　いい　っしょ。
I have five days off from tomorrow. Nice, right?
Literally: “tomorrow + from + five consecutive holidays + なんだ. + good + っしょ.”

明日から５連休なんだ。いいだろう。
あした　から　ご　れんきゅう　なんだ。　いい　だろう。
I have five days off from tomorrow. Nice, right?
Literally: “tomorrow + from + five consecutive holidays + なんだ. + good + だろう.”

明日から５連休なんだ。いいだろ。
あした　から　ご　れんきゅう　なんだ。　いい　だろ。
I have five days off from tomorrow. Nice, right?
Literally: “tomorrow + from + five consecutive holidays + なんだ. + good + だろ.”

言ったでしょう！これは食べるなって！
いった　でしょう！　これ　は　たべる　な　って！
I told you not to eat it! // I told you! Do not eat it!
Literally: “said + でしょう！ + this + は + don’t eat + って.”

言ったでしょ！これは食べるなって！
いった　でしょ！　これ　は　たべる　な　って！
I told you not to eat it! // I told you! Do not eat it!
Literally: “said + でしょ！ + this + は + don’t eat + って.”

言っただろう！これは食べるなって！
いった　だろう！　これ　は　たべる　な　って！
I told you not to eat it! // I told you! Do not eat it!
Literally: “said + だろう！ + this + は + don’t eat + って.”

言っただろ！これは食べるなって！
いった　だろ！　これ　は　たべる　な　って！
I told you not to eat it! // I told you! Do not eat it!
Literally: “said + だろ！ + this + は + don’t eat + って.”

言ったろ！これは食べるなって！
いったろ！　これ　は　たべる　な　って！
I told you not to eat it! // I told you! Do not eat it!
Literally: “said + ろ！ + this + は + don’t eat + って.”

さっき言ったでしょう。
さっき　いった　でしょう。
I just told you.
Literally: “a little while ago + said + でしょう.”

さっき言ったでしょ。
さっき　いった　でしょ。
I just told you.
Literally: “a little while ago + said + でしょ.”

さっき言っただろう。
さっき　いった　だろう。
I just told you.
Literally: “a little while ago + said + だろう.”

さっき言っただろ。
さっき　いった　だろ。
I just told you.
Literally: “a little while ago + said + だろ.”

さっき言ったろ。
さっき　いった　ろ。
I just told you.
Literally: “a little while ago + said + ろ.”

今日飲み会でしょう？気を付けてね。
きょう　のみかい　でしょう？　きをつけて　ね。
The (drinking) party is tonight, right? Be careful.
Literally: “today + drinking party + でしょう？ + be careful + ね.”

今日飲み会でしょ？気を付けてね。
きょう　のみかい　でしょ？　きをつけて　ね。
The (drinking) party is tonight, right? Be careful.
Literally: “today + drinking party + でしょ？ + be careful + ね.”

今日飲み会っしょ？気を付けてね。
きょう　のみかい　っしょ？　きをつけて　ね。
The (drinking) party is tonight, right? Be careful.
Literally: “today + drinking party + でしょう？ + be careful + ね.”

今日飲み会だろう？気を付けてね。
きょう　のみかい　だろう？　きをつけて　ね。
The (drinking) party is tonight, right? Be careful.
Literally: “today + drinking party + でしょう？ + be careful + ね.”

今日飲み会だろ？気を付けてね。
きょう　のみかい　だろ？　きをつけて　ね。
The (drinking) party is tonight, right? Be careful.
Literally: “today + drinking party + だろ？ + be careful + ね.”

Gender Quiz!

Test time. Good luck!

Question:
In the following sentence, do you think person B is a guy or a girl?

A:
そのスカートかわいいね。
That’s a cute skirt.
Literally: “that + skirt + cute + ね.”

B:
でしょ！ （or でしょ？）
Right?!

Answer:
A girl! Of course!

Question:
How about this sentence:

A:
ニコの車かっこいいね。
ニコ　の　くるま　かっこいい　ね。
Your car is cool, Niko. // Niko’s car is cool, huh?
Literally: “Niko + の + car + cool + ね.”
Note: I don’t actually have a car. T_T

B:
だろ？（orだろ！）
I know, right?

Answer:
A guy!

Now I'll shut up...

...because I was originally planning for this lesson to be much shorter.

Tomorrow we're looking at a completely different usage of でしょう.