大丈夫ですか vs 大丈夫でしょうか

Question

So I was reading What's the difference between でしょうか and ですか at the end of a question? and I roughly know that でしょうか means, but what exactly is でしょうか trying to convery in the title?

Answer 1

大丈夫ですか is directly asking if whoever/whatever you are talking about is 大丈夫. It assumes that the listener knows the answer. Depending on the topic, it's usually translated as "Are you all right?", "Is he okay?", "Is this safe?", and so on.

大丈夫でしょうか is more like "I wonder if you'll be okay", "Will he be okay/successful?", "I'm not sure if this is safe", and so on. It assumes that there is some uncertainty about the 大丈夫-ness of the topic, and even the listener may not know the answer.

Because the future is fundamentally more uncertain, 大丈夫でしょうか tends to be used when discussing future events. However, even for a current situation, if there is uncertainty, you should say 大丈夫でしょうか. Conversely, even when it's about a future event, if you're asking about something that the listener definitely knows, you use 大丈夫ですか.

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For example, if you see a person on the street who has stumbled, you need to say 大丈夫ですか ("Are you all right?") to them because they should know if they are okay. If you heard that your colleague had an accident and is in surgery, you say 大丈夫でしょうか to other colleagues because they should be equally uncertain.

Suppose you are standing in front of a machine that looks dangerous. If you ask (これは)大丈夫ですか, it means that you expect that the listener can assure you that it is safe. If you ask 大丈夫でしょうか in the same situation, it means that you are thinking even the listener may not know if it's really safe.

Suppose you are talking to your colleague who is going to take a difficult exam next week. If you say 大丈夫ですか, you're basically asking if he is confident (he knows the answer). But 大丈夫でしょうか implies you're worried if he will be successful regardless of his current confidence level (he does not know the answer).