はずだ / かもしれない / らしい

Should be / Might be / Seems like (heard)

'He should be here by now.' 'It might rain.' 'I heard she's moving abroad.' Three different levels of certainty — and each one carries a different nuance about how you know.

What you'll learn

• はずだ: should be ~ (logical expectation from evidence)
• はずがない: there's no way ~ (strong impossibility)
• かもしれない: might / maybe | らしい: seems / I heard that

JLPT N4 Japanese self-study — interactive practice, instant feedback, completely free.