Breakdown of ashita wa yuki ga furu deshou.
Questions & Answers about ashita wa yuki ga furu deshou.
は is the topic marker. It tells you that “as for tomorrow” is the thing we’re going to talk about.
- 明日は雪が降るでしょう。
→ “As for tomorrow, it will probably snow.”
So the structure is:
- [明日 は] [雪 が 降る でしょう]
→ Topic | Comment about that topic
In English we don’t explicitly mark a topic with a particle, but Japanese does, and は is the most common way to do it.
が marks 雪 as the subject of the verb 降る (to fall).
- 雪が降る = “Snow falls” / “It snows.”
Using が here is natural because:
- We’re simply stating what will happen: (Tomorrow,) snow will fall.
- In many weather expressions, the thing that happens (rain, snow, wind, etc.) is marked with が:
- 雨が降る – It rains.
- 風が吹く – The wind blows.
You could say 雪は降る, but that usually adds a contrastive nuance, like:
- 雨は降らないけど、雪は降る。
“It won’t rain, but it will snow.”
So in the basic, neutral weather prediction, 雪が降る is the default.
Japanese verbs don’t have a separate “future” form. The non-past form (like 降る) covers both:
- Present/general: “(It) snows” / “(It) falls.”
- Future: “(It) will snow / will fall.”
The context decides which one is meant. Here, 明日 (tomorrow) clearly points to the future, so 降る is understood as “will fall / will snow.”
- 今、雪が降る。 – “Snow falls now / It is snowing now.”
- 明日、雪が降る。 – “Snow will fall tomorrow / It will snow tomorrow.”
でしょう attaches to the plain (dictionary) form of the verb, not the polite ます form. So:
- Natural: 雪が降るでしょう。
- Sounds stiff/over-formal in modern speech: 雪が降りますでしょう。
Even though the verb is in plain form (降る), the presence of でしょう makes the whole sentence polite. This is a standard pattern:
- 行くでしょう。 – (polite) “(I) will probably go.”
- 高いでしょう。 – (polite) “(It) is probably expensive.”
でしょう expresses guessing, probability, or a soft statement. It’s similar to:
- “probably,” “I suppose,” “I expect,” “I guess,” in English.
So:
- 雪が降る。
→ Simple statement: “It will snow.” (plain, can sound firm or matter‑of‑fact) - 雪が降るでしょう。
→ “It will probably snow.” / “I expect it will snow.”
でしょう:
- Softens your statement (less blunt).
- Shows you’re not claiming 100% certainty.
- Is also a polite form.
Both express conjecture / probability. The main differences:
でしょう
- Polite.
- Often used in spoken polite Japanese, by announcers, teachers, etc.
- Can sound softer and more neutral.
だろう
- Plain (not polite).
- Common in casual speech, especially by men, and in written Japanese.
- Can sound stronger, more assertive, or a bit rough depending on tone.
Examples:
- 明日は雪が降るでしょう。
→ Polite: “It will probably snow tomorrow.” - 明日は雪が降るだろう。
→ Plain: “It’ll probably snow tomorrow.”
Yes. 明日雪が降るでしょう。 is also natural.
Nuance difference:
明日は雪が降るでしょう。
→ “As for tomorrow, it will probably snow.”
(Tomorrow is clearly highlighted as the topic.)明日雪が降るでしょう。
→ “It will probably snow tomorrow.”
(Slightly more neutral; just saying when it will snow, without strongly topicalizing “tomorrow.”)
In everyday speech, both are fine and commonly used.
In English we need a dummy subject “it”:
“It will probably snow tomorrow.”
In Japanese, there is no dummy “it”. The thing that actually does the action is the subject:
- 雪が降る – “Snow falls” → “It snows.”
So in this sentence:
- 雪 is the subject (marked by が).
- There is no extra word corresponding to English “it.”
Japanese often omits subjects, and when weather is talked about, the phenomenon itself (snow, rain, wind, etc.) is treated as the subject.
Time expressions like 明日 (tomorrow), 今日 (today), 来週 (next week) generally do not need に:
- 明日行きます。 – “I will go tomorrow.”
- 来週会いましょう。 – “Let’s meet next week.”
You can sometimes add に with certain time expressions, but with 明日, 明後日, etc., に usually sounds unnecessary or odd in this kind of sentence.
Here, は is not a time marker; it’s a topic marker:
- 明日は = “As for tomorrow,”
(we’re setting “tomorrow” as the topic, not saying “to tomorrow” or “on tomorrow”)
So 明日に雪が降るでしょう is unnatural; you should say:
- 明日は雪が降るでしょう。
You can say 明日は雪でしょう, but the nuance is a bit different.
明日は雪が降るでしょう。
→ Focuses on the action: “(As for tomorrow,) it will probably snow.”
Literally: “Snow will probably fall tomorrow.”明日は雪でしょう。
→ Describes the weather type: “Tomorrow will probably be snowy.” / “Tomorrow will probably be snow (rather than rain, etc.).”
In many contexts, people do say things like:
- 今日は雨でしょう。 – “Today will probably be rainy.”
But 雪が降るでしょう is more explicit that snow will fall.
Yes, Japanese often omits parts that are clear from context.
Examples:
If everyone already knows you’re talking about tomorrow:
- 雪が降るでしょう。
→ “It will probably snow.” (Tomorrow is understood.)
- 雪が降るでしょう。
If weather and time are clear from context and you just want to predict:
- 降るでしょう。
→ “(It) will probably fall.” (In practice, listeners understand this as “It will probably snow / rain,” depending on context.)
- 降るでしょう。
However, 明日は雪が降るでしょう is the most complete and clear version when you introduce this information without prior context.
Adding か turns it into a question:
明日は雪が降るでしょう。
→ Statement: “It will probably snow tomorrow.”明日は雪が降るでしょうか。
→ Polite question: “Do you think it will snow tomorrow?” / “Will it probably snow tomorrow?”
This is a common pattern:
- 〜でしょう。 – “It will probably 〜.” (statement)
- 〜でしょうか。 – “Do you think it will probably 〜?” / “Will it probably 〜?” (polite question)
- Dictionary form: 降る
- Reading: ふる (furu)
This verb is not specific to snow. It’s used for things like rain, snow, hail, etc. “falling from the sky”:
- 雨が降る – あめがふる – “It rains.”
- 雪が降る – ゆきがふる – “It snows.”
- ひょうが降る – “Hail falls” / “It hails.”
Same kanji 降る is used; context tells you what is falling.