72999
What is the meaning of this sentence 高橋ですが、今よろしいでしょうか, is が being used to
indicate that the speaker has more to say. Also what is the meaning of でしょう in
this sentence?
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2019-11-09T06:28:00.930
72998
2019-11-12T02:36:29.463
question
particles
Meaning of particle and word in provided sentence
The が here is kind of a softener/bridge/segue to the actual relevant clause
which follows the first. Oftentimes this is conflated with が meaning 'but',
however it is not always appropriate to translate it thus. You will see this
use of が quite often in sentences such as すみませんが、トイレはありますか？ 'Excuse me, is
there a restroom (here)?'. [This site](https://www.learn-japanese-
adventure.com/japanese-particle-ga.html) describes it as an 'introduction
particle' and provides a few more examples.

でしょう expresses uncertainty in this case, as simply asking 今はよろしいですか might
sound overly direct. Think of this as similar to when English speakers use
'Might now be a convenient time?' rather than 'Is now a convenient time?'. See
the top [SE answer
here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12977/whats-the-difference-
between-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%97%E3%82%87%E3%81%86%E3%81%8B-and-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%8B-at-
the-end-of-a-question) for a bit more detail.
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2019-11-09T08:42:15.687
72999
2019-11-12T02:36:29.463
2019-11-12T02:36:29.463
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