たぶん
たぶん
hepburn tabun
probably, maybe
Part of speech · adverb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 多分明日は雨です。It'll probably rain tomorrow.
- 多分大丈夫だと思います。I think it'll probably be fine.
Collocations
多分 (tabun, probably / maybe)たぶん (kana spelling)おそらく (osoraku, probably — formal)きっと (kitto, surely)〜と思う (~to omou, "I think")
Mnemonic
多分 tabun — kanji "many (多) + portion (分)" = "many parts (of possibility)" → "probably". Probability register: たぶん (casual) > おそらく (formal/written) > 確か (tashika, near-certain) > きっと (surely) > 必ず (kanarazu, definitely). Japanese speakers avoid hard assertions, leaning on hedges like 多分, 〜と思う, 〜かもしれない. Foreigners expecting a yes/no often hear "多分そうですね" — a social-discourse trap. Korean ama / Chinese 大概 are parallel but Japanese has the finest gradation.
Quick check
Probability hierarchy in Japanese from low to high certainty?