GRAMMAR DETAIL
〜のではないか
Expresses a tentative inference without making a firm assertion, or gently offers an opinion in the same form.
Examples
足跡を見ると、動物がここを通ったのではないか。
Judging from the footprints, might an animal have passed through here?
Words used
会議の開始を一時間遅らせたらいいのではないか。
Would it not be better to delay the start of the meeting by an hour?
Words used
この足音は隣の部屋から聞こえるのではないか。
Could these footsteps be coming from the next room?
Words used
Study notes
1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning
- Structure:
のではないかpresents an inference or opinion in the form of asking whether something might be so. - Basic usage:
足跡を見ると、動物がここを通ったのではないか。suggests from the footprints that an animal may have passed through.
2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions
- Surface negation and the direction of inference
道を間違えたのではないかentertains the possibility of having taken the wrong route. Its inference differs from道を間違えなかった, which categorically states that the person did not take the wrong route.
- Na after nouns and na-adjectives
- A noun connects through
な, as in誤解なのではないか, and a na-adjective does likewise in危険なのではないか. A verb connects directly in its plain form, as in間違えたのではないか.
- A noun connects through