How to say "prediction" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 予測よそくnoun, suru verb, transitive verbPrediction in the sense of estimating a concrete outcome or figure from available information; the analytical word for predicting results or numbers, as opposed to a subjective guess.
- 予想よそうsuru verb, transitive verb, no-adjectiveThe general word for expecting or anticipating what will happen before it does: anticipating results, forming expectations, making a guess about an outcome. It covers both 'expectation' and 'prediction' and fits most ordinary contexts.
- 予言よげんnoun, suru verb, transitive verbProphecy and foretelling: declaring what the future holds, often with a fateful or oracular nuance. For ordinary predictions of outcomes it is seldom the word you want.
- 予報よほうnoun, suru verb, transitive verbEssentially 'forecast': a prediction of conditions to come, above all the weather. For other senses of 'prediction' it is seldom the word you want.
- 思惑おもわくnounReally 'expectation' or 'speculation': what someone privately anticipates or has in mind, often about markets or others' moves. As a rendering of 'prediction' it is marginal — reach for it only in that sense.
Use 予測 for an analytical estimate of an outcome or figure, 予想 for general expectations and guesses, 予言 for prophecy, 予報 for forecasts such as the weather, and 思惑 for a person's private expectation.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
See also
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