LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 120 JLPT N4

Looks Like It (そうだ)

This そうだ attaches to an adjective’s stem or a verb’s stem, dropping the ending, and describes an impression based on appearance, “looks like,” “seems like.” Unlike the reporting そうだ, it’s built entirely on what you can see or sense right now, not something you heard.

In Real Life
い-adjectives drop the final い before adding そう, 難しい becomes 難しそう, 美味しい becomes 美味しそう. い itself, oddly, becomes よさそう instead of いそう, an irregular exception worth just memorizing.
In Real Life
The negative inserts なさ before そう, 厳しくない becomes 厳しくなさそう, adding an extra syllable that’s easy to drop by accident. Attached to a verb’s stem instead of an adjective, そう shifts toward “on the verge of,” 泣きそう, “looks about to cry,” 落ちそう, “looks about to fall.”

Vocabulary

JapaneseEnglish