皆さん、こんにちは！
Do you agree with Sato-san and Yamada-san’s theories on the case?

NE TA GI RE DO KYU N

could someone explain 微妙 a little further? I dont understand why it can mean delicate, subtle,..and also lame. In english subtle usually has positive implications: a subtle play of words in a poem, a subtle taste in a well-prepared meal….in cases like these is 微妙 analogous to the english subtle? Is 微妙 negatively subtle in that it is not enough of something?
peter has often used 微妙 in a positive way in lesson conversations…is it usually positive or negative?

to me, it’s sometimes best to NOT take the word’s translation literally, ecspecially if it’s an evolved meaning of the word. Take the word “bad” for example. for awhile, it actually meant “GOOD!” in english! how would you explain that to a japanese person if they took everything literally???

犯人は人間じゃないです。どうぶつのはずです。でもね。。。たぶん人間も動物もじゃありません。。。ｈｍｍｍｍ。まだ謎ですね！

I don’t think “should’ is generally a good word to use when translating はず because (at least in my experience) it’s more often used to indicate that something is preferable or right (like ほうがいい or べき) and only infrequently to mean that something will happen or is expected to happen.

Actually, I’m wary of the word “should” in general. Sometimes the meaning of “should” (statement of expectation or suggestion/recommendation or moral judgment) is clear from context, but sometimes it can be unclear which meaning is intended. Since the meanings are quite different, that can be a problem.

こんにちは,

可能性：低ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー⇒高
「かもしれない」→「だろう・でしょう」→「はずだ」

「～と思う」は？
Is 「～と思う」 for expressing opinion　but not possibility ?
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きれいな声ですね～。。 直美先生は美人のはずです！！！

直美先生、

ありがとうございました。

もうちょっと聞きたいです。
「かもしれない」、「だろう・でしょう」、「はずだ」は書き言葉ですか？話し言葉ですか？
レポートの中には、使えますか？　
先週から、上司は毎週の週報を書かせます。　すごく難しいです。。

直美先生、

ありがとうございました.わかりました。

To answer ゆういちさん’s question, I think it was a racoon dog. And I also think racoon noodles are delicious!

(That’s strange - even though I’m a paid subscriber, and logged on, I still have to fill in my name and email. As this discourages comments, can you guys please fix this? Thanks!)