You use this when you are sure something is true. You have a good reason to believe it. It means 'it should be' or 'I expect that'.
Verb [dictionary form] / い-Adjective + はずだPrimary
Verb [た-form] + はずだ
な-Adjective + な + はずだ
Noun + の + はずだ
You use this when you are sure something is true. You have a good reason to believe it. It means 'it should be' or 'I expect that'.
彼はもうすぐ到着するはずだ。
He should be arriving soon.
彼はベジタリアンだから、肉を食べるはずがありません。
He's a vegetarian, so there's no way he eats meat.
昨日、荷物は届いたはずだけど、まだ見ていない。
The package was supposed to have arrived yesterday, but I haven't looked yet.
予定通りに行われるはずだった会議は、急遽中止になりました。
The meeting that was supposed to be held as scheduled was suddenly cancelled.
このホテルは五つ星ですから、部屋はきれいで静かなはずです。
Since this is a five-star hotel, the rooms should be clean and quiet.
This phrase is like saying, "I thought this would happen, but it didn't." It shows you are surprised or let down when things don't go as planned.
「〜はずだ」 means you think something is true because of what you know. It is more sure than 「〜でしょう」, which is just a guess. But it is not as strong as 「〜に違いない」 or 「〜に決まっている」. Those mean you are very, very sure.
Watch out: To say "no way" or "it's impossible," use 〜はずがない. This is stronger. It is more common in talking. For example, "He would never lie." You would not use 〜はずではない for this.
Track your mastery
Kumi's KMT system tracks your mastery across kanji, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Create a free account to use it on 220,000+ concepts.