きっと (kitto)
きっと — “surely / certainly”
Pattern
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きっと ＋ 文（〜だろう／〜でしょう／〜と思う）きっと来るだろう (He will surely come) -
きっと ＋ 動詞（する・なる）In a promise or encouragement, it can be followed by a plain verb: きっと上手になる
Where it comes from
As an adverb it never changes form. Placed in a sentence, it marks what follows as almost certain. Often there is a reason behind it, as in 約束したから、きっと来る.
When to use it
Use it for predictions about the future (彼女はきっと成功する), encouragement (毎日練習すれば、きっと上手になる) and promises. With だろう it becomes softer: confident but not flatly asserting.
Difference from similar words
It is more confident than かもしれない and differs from 必ず. 必ず expresses that a person's will or promise will certainly be kept (必ず行きます); きっと is a prediction or conviction, not a guarantee.
Examples
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彼女（かのじょ）はきっと成功（せいこう）します。
Kanojo wa kitto seikō shimasu.
She will surely succeed.
-
約束（やくそく）したから、彼（かれ）はきっと来（く）るだろう。
Yakusoku shita kara, kare wa kitto kuru darō.
He promised, so he'll surely come.
-
毎日（まいにち）練習（れんしゅう）すれば、きっと上手（じょうず）になる。
Mainichi renshū sureba, kitto jōzu ni naru.
If you practice every day, you'll surely get better.
Common mistakes
- For a firm promise about your own will, use 必ず. きっと行きます is closer to “I think I'll go” and is weak as a promise.
- It is awkward for stating past facts; use a guessing form such as きっと～だっただろう.
More grammar points
- はずだ ～はずだ — “should be ～ / is expected to ～”
- はずがない ～はずがない — “there's no way ～”
- かしら ～かしら — “I wonder ～” (feminine)
- かもしれない ～かもしれない — “might ～ / maybe ～”
- かな ～かな — “I wonder ～”
- みたいだ ～みたいだ — “seems like ～ / is like ～”
- みたいな ～みたいな — “～-like / such as ～” (before a noun)
- みたいに ～みたいに — “like ～” (before a verb or adjective)
- に見（み）える ～に見える — “look ～ / appear ～”
- らしい ～らしい — “it seems ～ / I hear ～”
- そうだ ～そうだ — hearsay (“I hear that ～”)
- そうだ ～そうだ — appearance (“looks ～”)
- そうに / そうな ～そうに / ～そうな — adverb and modifier forms of “looks ～”
- と言（い）われている ～と言われている — it is said that ～
- と聞（き）いた ～と聞いた — I heard that ～
- ようだ ～ようだ — it seems ～, it appears ～
- ように / ような ～ように／～ような — like ～, as ～
- 間（あいだ） 間 — “during ～ / while ～ / between ～”
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