Grammar Info
N3 Lesson 1: 17/22
そうだ
I heard that, It is said that
Do not confuse with the form of そう used with word stems.
Structure
Verb + そう + だ
[い]Adjective + そう + だ
Noun + だ + そう + だ
[な]Adjective + だ + そう + だ
Details
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About そうだ
The auxiliary verb そうだ has two primary functions in Japanese. It can convey one of the following things:
Hearsay: 伝聞 - Highlighting things that have been heard from other people.
Appearance: 様態 - Highlighting the way that things 'appear', or 'seem'.
The appearance nuance is covered in another lesson, so we will focus on hearsay in this grammar point. When used to repeat statements that have been heard from other people/sources, そうだ (or そうです) will be paired with the plain form of a verb or い-Adjective, or a noun/な-Adjective followed by だ.
そうだ always implies that the speaker is not 100% certain about the validity of the information that they are conveying. Due to this, it does not sound as confident as other expressions, like ようだ.
Caution
In order to avoid confusion between the そうだ that is used for repeating information, and the そうだ that is used for making observations, the following differences will need to be memorized.
Verbs -
降るそうだ - Unaltered verb, そうだ that is repeating information.
降りそうだ - Conjunctive form, そうだ that is used for making observations.
い-Adjectives -
寒いそうだ - Unaltered adjective, そうだ that is repeating information.
寒そうだ - い removed, そうだ that is used for making observations.
Nouns and な-Adjectives -
綺麗だそうだ - だ is used before そうだ. This is repeating information.
綺麗そうだ - No だ between the な-Adjective and そうだ. This is making an observation.
Synonyms
ようだ
It seems that, It appears that, It looks like
Not studied yet
とか
I heard that… something like, They said ... or something
Not studied yet
らしい ①
Seems like, Apparently, I heard
Not studied yet
ときいた
I heard that
Not studied yet
といわれている
It is said that, Is known as
Not studied yet
ということだ
I heard that, Rumor has it that, It is said that, It means that
Not studied yet
んだって
I heard that, He or She said that
Not studied yet
Examples
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美味しいそうだから、たくさん買った。
I heard they taste good, so I bought a bunch.
トムの彼女は女優だそうだ。
I heard that Tom's girlfriend is an actress.
あの方は親切だそうです。
I heard that that person is kind.
来週から気温が下がるそうだ。
I heard that from next week the temperature is going to drop.
今晩雨が降るそうだ。
I heard it will rain tonight.
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Expressing Hearsay
Tae Kim
そうだ vs. らしい [video]
Japanese Ammo with Misa
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Genki II 1st Edition
Page 96
みんなの日本語 II
Page 138 [CH 47]
Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
Page 130 & 154
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 122
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 407
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 264
[AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
Page 74
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そうだ – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (11 in total)
searls
Thanks!
testing
“これは明日のテストに出るそうだ。覚えておこう。”
The second sentence is translated as “I should memorize it.” Isn’t it rather “I shall/will memorize it.”, or am I misunderstanding some grammar?Daru
Hey! Extremely late reply, but so that this remains answered if someone else asks:
It’s ておく + Volitional, so in a way its saying: “I should [do the effort preemptively] memorize it”. If it were literally saying that it shall/needs to be remembered, something like 覚えるべきだ、覚えることだ would probably get that meaning across better, but it’s not the intention.
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