Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 3: 10/18

(よう)

It seems that, It appears that, It looks like

More formal than みたい

Structure Legend

Structure

Verb + よう +
[い]Adjective + よう +
[な]Adjective + + よう +
Noun + + よう +

Details

  • Register

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

About ようだ

In a similar way to みたい, ようだ is used when making observations about something in Japanese. This auxiliary verb is used to express three primary things.
たとえ - Using (A) as an example to highlight the way that (B) looks/is acting.
推定(すいてい) - Using (A) as a reason for an assumption made about (B).
例示(れいじ) - Presenting (A) as an example of what (B) is.
ようだ is usually based on direct information/experience, and shows that the speaker has high confidence in what they are saying. It may also frequently appear in its kanji form, (よう)だ.
ようだ can be used with any verb, い-Adjective, な-Adjective, or noun. However, it requires な before it when used with な-Adjectives, or when used with nouns.
  • ここ(おお)ビル出来(でき)ようだ
    It seems like a big building will be made here.
  • あそこプール(ふか)(よう)
    It seems like the pool over there is deep.
  • (かれ)明日(あした)テスト自信(じしん)がある(みんな)()ている本当(ほんとう)不安(ふあん)ようだ
    He is telling everyone that he is confident about the test tomorrow, but it seems like he is actually worried.
  • ヨーダ宇宙人(うちゅうじん)ようだ
    Yoda appears to be an alien.
Although ようだ and そうだ are often used in similar situations, そうだ shows that the speaker has a lot less confidence in their statement than ようだ. Because of this, ようだ is a much better choice when stating things that are obvious/observable by anyone.
Caution
ようだ is considerably more formal than みたい, and is therefore less common in casual conversation.

Synonyms

Examples

  • (かれ)ここ()ないようだ

    It seems like he won't come here.

  • 今日(きょう)天気(てんき)台風(たいふう)ようだ

    Today's weather looks like a typhoon.

  • (かれ)(はな)(かた)(うた)っているようだ

    His way of speaking seems like singing.

  • ほとんど()なっているようだ

    It seems that most of it is gone.

  • あの(ひと)(かね)()っていないようだ本当(ほんとう)金持(かねも)

    That person looks like he doesn't have any money, but he really is rich.

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ようだ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (12 in total)

  • Chiinox

    Chiinox

    About 3 months ago

    Why is
    このコーラは苦い。まるでコーヒーがします
    not accepted as an answer, to mean “This cola is bitter. It tastes like coffee.”?

    My understanding is that がする can be used to talk about senses, to say something smells/tastes/looks like something, but here the review question does not accept this, expecting のようだ instead.

  • IcyIceBear

    IcyIceBear

    About 3 months ago

    Welcome to the community

    From what I know of the まるで point, it likes to have a みたい or よう tossed in. Not saying it does or doesn’t work with がする because I honestly don’t know. But if the review is testing ようだ it’s gonna want you to use ようだ. Usually it will nudge you in the right direction if you answer with a synonym of sorts without failing you on it, so this leads me to believe you can’t use まるで with がする, or that it doesn’t want you to say it “tastes like coffee” just that it’s bitter " like coffee. " In the latter case, maybe just a translation confusion

    This cola is bitter. Just like coffee.

    まるで point for reference

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    About 3 months ago

    Hey there @Chiinox !

    You are correct that がする is used when talking about senses, however, the noun before がする must be a sensory noun (匂い・香り・味・感じ・etc.). Another reason why がする can’t be used here is because まるで is usually paired with ようだ to emphasize the similarity, and pairing it with がする alone makes the sentence very unnatural.

    So, if you want to use がする in this sentence you would either change the sentence a bit to say, コーヒーの味がします (it gives off coffee flavor) or まるでコーヒーのような味がします(It almost tastes like coffee).

    I hope this clears it up a little!

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