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のではないか?

Razahia

先輩
7 Jun 2013
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Hello everyone,

I wanted to know how のではないか is used. I've seen it used quite a lot but more used as んじゃない

Have read a lot about this but mostly reading that it's used for assumption, or "maybe A?" Although I myself have no idea when to use this grammar. Hopefully someone can shed some light? Here are a few examples I've seen this in.

ぼくは財布をなくしたのではないか?

熱でもあるんじゃないか

晴れるのではないか

Also seen

の方がいいのではないか。 being used.

And so on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
It's just like adding an "isn't it?" or "don't you think?" to the end of a statement. In Japanese it's somewhat rare to make an outright statement like "It's hot." It's often softened with a "might be" or "isn't it?" kind of phrase even if it's an outright fact.
Similarly you'll see:
~かも(しらない)
~と思う
~と思わない?
~みたい
~だろう
~らしい
depending on the degree of certainty (assumption) in the statement.
 
Or, "I wonder", "it seems" when the speaker is talking to themselves in monologue.
 
It's just like adding an "isn't it?" or "don't you think?" to the end of a statement. In Japanese it's somewhat rare to make an outright statement like "It's hot." It's often softened with a "might be" or "isn't it?" kind of phrase even if it's an outright fact.
Similarly you'll see:
~かも(しらない)
~と思う
~と思わない?
~みたい
~だろう
~らしい
depending on the degree of certainty (assumption) in the statement.

Hello, thanks for replying.... I wanted to ask the difference or I guess difference in certainty between this and だろう/でしょう or maybe かな?
 
だろう/でしょう is more certain. のではないか is more doubtful.
e.g.
彼は来ないだろう v.s. 彼は来ないんじゃないか
 
っけ is more uncertain than のではないか, meaning sometimes "I don't think so". These expressions can be used sarcastically, so the meaning can be changed depending on the context/tone/intonation.
 
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