Structure
Verb + べき + だ
Verb + べき + Noun
［い］Adjective + くある + べき + だ
［な］Adjective + である + べき + だ
Noun + である + べき + だ
Exceptions:
する ￫ す（る）べき
Details
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Standard
Rare Kanji
可き
About べき
The auxiliary verb べき, being the attributive form of べし, is a structure in Japanese that is often paired with verbs to express that something 'ought to be done'. It implies some sort of moral obligation, or that (A) is the only reasonable course of action. This comes from the kanji 可き, which carries the meaning of being something 'permissible' (indicating that any other action would not be acceptable).
べき will be paired with the plain (non-past) form of a verb, before being followed by either だ, or another noun.
べき is also sometimes translated as 'must do (A)', or 'should do (A)' but it is important to remember that it will always have the nuance of being the only 'permissible' choice, and is therefore very strong.
Caution
It is important to note that the verb appearing with べき cannot be in past tense, and you will need to use だった or でした after べき, if you would like to say that something 'ought to have been done' in the past.
- やばいやばい、車が止まりそう！高速に乗る前にガソリンを入れておくべきだった。This is not good… ahhh not good, the car is about to stop! I should have filled the car up with gasoline before I got on the highway.
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大変申し訳ございません。こちらがもっと早く気づくべきでした。We are very sorry. We should have noticed this earlier.
Fun Fact
In modern Japanese, there are only 18 auxiliary verbs, of which べき is not one. べし (the standard form) is considered to be a classical auxiliary verb. Due to this, べき (and べし) are often referred to as classical auxiliary verbs.
Fun Fact
The combination of する and べき is a rare grammatical exception in Japanese, in which two forms are both considered equally correct. Due to this, either するべき, or すべき may be used.
- 結婚する前に相手と将来の話しをするべきだ。Before marrying, you should talk about the future with your partner.
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家族は何があっても大切にすべきだ。You should prioritize family no matter what happens.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Examples
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税金を払う可きです。
You should pay taxes.
考える可きことが多すぎて、頭が痛い。
There are too many things I should think about, so my head hurts.
言う可きことを言うのは親の義務だ。
Saying things that you should say is a duty of a parent.
誰も見ていなくても、法律は守る可きだ。
Even when no one is looking, you should obey the law.
明日の会議は重大な話があるので、出席をする可きだ。
Because we will talk about something important at tomorrow's meeting, everyone should attend.
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べき – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (25 in total)
IcyIceBear
Say I have a 1000 piece puzzle. I give you 999 of them. When I give you this last piece, you will now have the complete puzzle. Your puzzle won’t be 全部 until I give you これ (the piece in my hand), making it the last piece.
I tried 🤷 tldr the sentence and translation both make sense
Munchakoopas
I agree with this. There is no actual word for “last”. It’s just implied it’s the last thing because they are finishing up teaching you.
homa
Ok thank you, now it makes more sense
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