GrammarJLPT N5
→ should (be)
Expected to Be / Should Be (Based on Reason or Evidence)
JLPT N5Auxiliary verbNeutral
はず expresses the speaker's confident expectation or logical conclusion that something should be the case, based on reasoning, evidence, knowledge, or prior arrangement. Unlike べき, which expresses moral obligation or what one ought to do, はず is about what one expects to be true given certain information. It is similar to だろう in expressing a prediction, but はず carries a stronger sense of logical certainty — the speaker has a concrete basis for the expectation, not just a vague guess. For example, if you know someone left an hour ago and the trip takes thirty minutes, you would use はず to say they should have arrived by now. The negative form はずがない means "there is no way that..." and expresses strong disbelief. はず functions grammatically as a noun (forming a noun phrase), so it is preceded by words in their plain form and followed by だ／です.
Functions
#1 Confident expectation based on evidence or knowledge
Structure
Verb (plain form) + はずだ
田中さんはもう来るはずです。
Here はず expresses the speaker's confident expectation that Tanaka will arrive soon. The speaker has a basis for this belief — perhaps Tanaka said he was on his way, or the speaker knows when he left. This is not a guess or a hope but a logical expectation grounded in information the speaker possesses.Mr. Tanaka should be coming soon.
Structures
- Verb (plain form)
- Verb (plain form) + はず
- い-Adjective
- い-Adjective + はず
- な-Adjective
- な-Adjective + な + はず
- Noun
- Noun + の + はず
Common mistakes
A common mistake is confusing はず with べき. While べき means "should" in the sense of obligation or moral duty, はず means "should" in the sense of logical expectation — they are not interchangeable. Another frequent error is using はず about oneself for decisions or intentions; for your own plans or intentions, つもり is more appropriate, since はず implies reasoning about external facts rather than personal volition. Learners also sometimes forget the connecting particles: な-adjectives require な before はず, and nouns require の before はず. Finally, some learners write the negative as はずではない when they mean strong denial; while はずではない ("it is not expected that...") is grammatically possible, はずがない is the standard way to express "there is no way that..." and carries much stronger force.
Related
べきに違いないだろうかもしれないつもりはずがない