Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
わけだ

わけだ

わけだ Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: No wonder / So that means / I take it that / So that’s the reason why

Construction: 

  • (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + わけだ
    • E.g. 話はなすわけだ [I take it that X speaks / No wonder X speaks]
    • E.g. 食たべるわけだ [I take it that X eats / No wonder X eats]
    • E.g. 高たかいわけだ [I take it that X is expensive / No wonder X is expensive]
  • な-Adjective Stem + わけだ
    • E.g. 静しずかなわけだ [I take it that X is quiet / No wonder X is quiet]
  • Noun + [という / だった] + わけだ
    • E.g. 先生せんせいというわけだ [I take it that X is a teacher / No wonder X is a teacher]

Notes:

  • On its own, わけ is a noun that means “Reason“.
    • E.g. 会社かいしゃをやめたそうですが、そのわけを聞きかせてください。[I heard that you quit the company…Please tell me the reason.]
  • The phrase わけだ expresses the speaker’s judgement, conclusion, or deduction based on some prior verbal context. In other words, わけだ translates roughly to “No wonder“, “So that means“, or “So for that reason“. The て-Form of わけだ is わけで.
    • E.g. お母かあさんと二人ふたりだけですか。そういうわけで結婚けっこんできないんですか。[Is it only you and your mother? So that means you haven’t found a spouse, right?] In this example, the verbal context is that the hearer is alone with his mother. The speaker uses this context to make the deduction that the hearer is unmarried.
    • E.g. 明日あした試験しけんですか。じゃあ、こんばん忙いそがしいわけですね。[Do you have a test tomorrow? I take it that you’ll be busy tonight for that reason.] In this example, the spoken verbal context is that the hearer has a test tomorrow. The speaker goes on to use this evidence as the basis for the conclusion that the hearer must be busy tonight.
    • E.g. 毎日まいにちプールで泳およいでいるんですか。丈夫じょうぶなわけですね。[Are you swimming in the pool every day? No wonder you’re strong.] In this example, the spoken verbal context is that the hearer swims in the pool every day. Based on this evidence, the speaker concludes that swimming is the reason why the hearer is so strong.
  • わけだ is somewhat similar to はずだ. The main differences are that (1) はずだ only indicates the speaker’s expectation (rather than their judgement), and (2) はずだ does not require prior verbal context.
    • E.g. 明日あしたは授業じゅぎょうがないはずですよ。[I expect that there won’t be class tomorrow.]
    • E.g. あの人ひとは若わかいはずですよ。[I expect that that person is young.]

Example Sentences:

毎日まいにち三時間さんじかんも日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしているんですか。よくできるわけですね。[You’re studying Japanese for 3 hours every day? No wonder you’re so good.]

明日あした試験しけんですか。じゃあ、こんばん忙いそがしいわけですね。[Do you have a test tomorrow? I take it that you’ll be busy tonight for that reason.]

スミスさんは十年間じゅうねんかんもテニスをしたのだから上手じょうずなわけだ。[Mr. Smith played tennis for as long as 10 years, so I take it that he’s pretty good.]

A: 来月らいげつから４ヶ月かげつフランスに行いきます。 B: すると、六月ろくがつに帰かえってくるわけですね。[A: Next month, I’m going to France for 4 months. B: If you do that, I take it that you’ll be back in June?]

毎日まいにちプールで泳およいでいるんですか。丈夫じょうぶなわけですね。[Are you swimming in the pool every day? No wonder you’re strong.]

昨日きのうは三時間さんじかんしか寝ねていない。道理どうりで眠ねむいわけだ。[Yesterday I only slept for 3 hours. No wonder I’m so sleepy.]

WILD Examples:

This is an online review for some sort of matcha cake. The tagline of the review says: 安やすいわけだ [No wonder it’s cheap!] The review explains that the cake is flavorless and there’s not enough cream, so no wonder it’s cheap.
This is an Amazon review for some biking gloves. The tagline of this review also says: 安やすいわけだ [No wonder it’s cheap!] The reviewer claims that the gloves are hot and sweaty despite being mesh, so no wonder they’re cheap.

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