～やはり / やっぱり (as expected)

• Reading: やはり
• Romaji: yahari
• Formation: やはり / やっぱり + Sentence

Meaning

An adverb indicating that a situation or outcome conforms to the speaker's prior expectation, assumption, or general knowledge. It translates as 'as expected,' 'after all,' or 'sure enough.'

やはり has a formal tone while やっぱり is its casual spoken variant. This adverb serves several related functions. It can confirm an expectation (やはり雨が降った — It rained after all, as I thought). It can express a return to an original position after deliberation (やっぱりこれにする — I'll go with this one after all). It can also convey that something is just as good or bad as commonly believed (やはり東京は人が多い — Tokyo really is crowded, as they say). The speaker uses やはり to signal that reality matched what they or others had anticipated. It is extremely common in daily conversation and writing.

Examples

1. やはり日本の夏は暑いですね。 As expected, Japanese summers are hot, aren't they?
2. やっぱりこのレストランの料理はおいしい。 This restaurant's food really is delicious, as I thought.
3. 考えたけど、やっぱり行くことにした。 I thought about it, but decided to go after all.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: reflective

Do Say

• やっぱり自分で作ったほうがおいしいね。
• やはりその話は本当だったんですね。
• いろいろ迷ったけど、やっぱり赤にします。
• やはり経験がある人は違いますね。

Don't Say

• やはり明日は何曜日ですか。(やはり cannot be used in pure information questions — it requires a prior expectation) → 明日は何曜日ですか。
• やっぱりと雨が降った。(やはり/やっぱり is an adverb — do not add と after it) → やっぱり雨が降った。

Origin & History

Derived from classical Japanese やはり, which itself comes from the verb 矢張る (yaharu, to persist like an arrow shot straight). The colloquial form やっぱり developed through phonetic contraction.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal