Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 3: 5/18

そう Look like, Appear, Seem, Have a feeling that

Do not confuse with そうだ (I heard that...).

Structure

Verb［ます］+ そう + だ
［い］Adjective［い］+ そう + だ
［な］Adjective + そう + だ

Negative:
Verb［ない］+ な + そう + だ
［い］Adjective ［ない］ + なさ + そう + だ
［な］Adjective + では(1)ない + なさ + そう + だ

Exceptions:
いい ￫ よい + さそう + だ ￫ よさそうだ

(1) じゃ

Details

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About そう

そうだ is one of the 18 primary auxiliary verbs in Japanese, and can be used in two (2) different ways. The broad meaning in each of its applications is that something 'seems' to be a certain way. Due to this, そう is regularly translated as 'seems like', 'looks like', or 'appears as though'.

In this lesson, we will focus on the form that is used with the conjunctive (stem) form of words. Please examine the structure guide to see these forms.

Caution

そう may also be used when attached to the い-Adjective, ない. In this case, there is a unique conjugation rule which we will need to be careful of. As always, い will be removed from ない before attaching そう. However, さ will be inserted between な, and そう. This creates the expression なさそう.

  • 彼(かれ)の部屋(へや)は汚(きたな)くなさそうだ。
    His room doesn't seem messy.
  • あの車(くるま)は小(ちい)さくて便利(べんり)じゃなさそう。
    That car is small, and looks inconvenient.

Note that this addition of さ does not happen with verbs. This is due to the ない that is used with negative verbs being an auxiliary verb, and not an い-Adjective. With the auxiliary verb ない, simply remove the い, before adding そう directly to the stem.

  • 彼(かれ)はもうイギリスに帰(かえ)らなそうだ。
    It appears that he is not going back to England.

Caution

This そう is utilized exclusively to make predictions/guesses about something based on visual information. It is relatively low confidence, so should not be used for things that are obvious. In these cases, みたい would be used instead.

  • 明日(あした)は朝(あさ)から雨(あめ)が降(ふ)るみたいだ。
    It looks like it is going to start raining tomorrow morning. (Higher confidence)
  • 明日(あした)は朝(あさ)から雨(あめ)が降(ふ)りそうだ。
    It seems like it is going to start raining tomorrow morning. (Lower confidence)

Examples

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    雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)りそうです。

    It looks like it is going to snow.

    先生(せんせい)の仕事(しごと)は難(むずか)しそうです。

    The job of being a teacher looks difficult.

    今日(きょう)の宿題(しゅくだい)は簡単(かんたん)そうだ。

    Today's homework looks easy.

    その食(た)べ物(もの)は食(た)べやすそう。

    That food looks easy to eat.

    この教科書(きょうかしょ)はとても難(むずか)しそうです。

    This textbook seems very difficult.

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そう – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (32 in total)

  • IcyIceBear

    IcyIceBear

    Verb てる is a casual contraction of verbている, it means the same thing, just a lil more casual, shorter and faster to say like “whatcha doin” vs “what are you doing”.

    The verb stem of いる (being an ichidan/る verb) in verbている becomes てい.
    走っています > 走っています > 走っていそうだ

  • wootau

    wootau

    This all makes sense now. Thank you IcyIceBear.

  • lashette

    lashette

    In N4 Lesson 4: 8/18 ようになる, there is an example sentence with そう in front of a verb and it says it’s this grammar point but everything here is そう after the verb. So I don’t really understand what it’s doing or what it means. Thanks in advance!

    The sentence in question そうするようになったが、もうそうしたくない。

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