Two schoolgirls talking about Sean Penn.
Schoolgirl #1: “Sean Penn is so cool!”
Schoolgirl #2: “He sure is!”
Two Japanese schoolgirls talking about Sean Penn.
Schoolgirl #1: “Sean Penn wa kakkou ii yo ne!”
Schoolgirl #2: “Deshou!”
What Just Happened
- We just saw “deshou” (でしょう) used as an interjection.
- Interjections include “Oh!” “Alas!” and “Oy vey!”
Where This Came From
- “Sou desu” (そうです) conveys “That’s right.” with an air of finality.
- “Sou desu yo” (そうですよ) conveys “That’s right!” with emphasis.
- “Sou deshou” (そうでしょう) conveys “I’m sure that’s right.”
Therefore, “deshou” is an expression of agreement with another person.
Deshou Is Subjective
English
Schoolgirl #1: “You really aced that test, didn’t you?”
Schoolgirl #2: “I did, didn’t I?”
Japanese
Schoolgirl #1: “Ano tesuto, daiseikou da yo ne?”
Schoolgirl #2: “Deshou?”
In this case, “deshou?” is used to answer a question with a statement/ question: I agree with that statement, don’t you?
Translation Note
Because English favors the active voice, a translation would probably read like this instead:
Schoolgirl #1: “You really aced that test, huh?”
Schoolgirl #2: “Totally.”
Remember, the “deshou” expresses that Schoolgirl #2 has no doubt, in her own mind, that she did indeed ace that test. Her subjective opinion is strong. This is what should be remembered when converting “deshou” into English. – J
I forgot to add this in the initial post but… the “desu” in “sou desu” is a copula, which functions much like the “is” in “that is correct” or “it is so”. When used like “sou deshou”, the “deshou” is also a copula. The thrust of this blog post is to show another use of the word. It’s colloquial of course, but it’s so common that it’s important to know. The usual textbooks probably don’t account for it.