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N2

のではないだろうか

I think ... isn't it?, It might be that..., Don't you agree?

先輩せんぱいは疲つかれているんじゃないだろうか。

I think that our senpai is tired, don't you think?

Explanation

Literally 「のではないだろうか」 is 'isn't it that...?', but it is a soft way to state your own opinion, close to 'I think...'. Because it does not push, it sounds modest and leaves the listener room: 「若者の読書離れは問題なのではないだろうか」 (Isn't it a problem that young people don't read?). Polite: 「のではないでしょうか」; casual: 「んじゃないだろうか」.

Mixed up with

In reading passages, when this pattern appears in the last paragraph it is usually the author's main point. The same goes for 「〜と思われる」 and 「〜と考えられないだろうか」.

After nouns and na-adjectives you need 「な」: 「大切なのではないだろうか」. Don't drop it.

Examples

  1. 長谷川はせがわさんは田中たなかさんのことが好すきなのではないでしょうか。

    I think that Hasegawa-san likes Tanaka-san, don't you agree?

  2. この調子ちょうしだと、停電ていでんが長引ながびくのではないだろうか。

    At this rate, I think the blackout will drag on, won't it?

  3. あの人ひとの右腕みぎうでに入はいってるタトゥー、防犯ぼうはんカメラに映うつっていたのと全まったく同おなじです。あの人ひとは犯人はんにんなのではないでしょうか。

    The tattoo on that person's right arm is exactly the same as the one seen on the security camera. I think that he is the perpetrator, don't you agree?

Tested 2 times in past papers

N2 · Dec 2015, Q50N2 · Jul 2010, Q54