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A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  1. A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  2. It looks A; it seems like A
12
聞 い た ？ レ ッ ド ソ ッ ク ス は 昨日 勝 っ た そ う だ ！ 
Did you hear? (I heard) The Red Sox won yesterday!
0
35
明日 雨 が 降 る そ う で す 。 
I heard that it's going to rain tomorrow.
0
16
此 の パ ソ コ ン は 使 い 難 い そ う で す よ 。 
I heard that this computer is hard to use.
0
15
電 車 が 遅 れ て 居 る 乃 だ そ う で す 。 
I heard that the train is running late.
0
28
死 ん だ ふ り 為 て 難 を 逃 れ た そ う で す 。 
He says he avoided the danger by playing dead.
0
1
彼 女 の 赤 ち ゃ ん は 今 月 中 に 生 ま れ る そ う で す 。 
I heard that her baby is due sometime this month.
0
1
高 橋 さ ん は 、 ク リ ス マ ス に 布哇 で 結 婚 式 を 為 る 予 定 だ そ う で す 。 
I heard that Takahashi plans to have his marriage ceremony in Hawaii on Christmas.
0
22
沖 縄 で は 豚 肉 を 良 く 食 べ る そ う で す 。 
I hear that they often eat pork in Okinawa.
0
8
彼 の パ ン 屋 さ ん は 大 繁 盛 為 て 居 る そ う だ 。 
I hear that his bakery is really prospering.
0
9
彼 女 は 来 月 か ら 一人暮 ら し を 始 め る そ う だ よ 。 
I hear that she will start living on her own next month.
0
8
此 の 作 家 は 、 生 前 は 有 名 で は な か っ た そ う だ 。 
It seems that this author was not famous during their lifetime.
0
7
彼 は 一人暮 ら し を 始 め て 親 に 感 謝 す る 様 に な っ た そ う だ 。 
It seems he came to appreciate his parents because he started living on his own.
0
7
ど う し た の か 、 彼 は 今日 の 試合 に 参 加 し な い ことになった そ う だ 。 
What's wrong... I heard it was decided that he will not participate in today's match.
0
10
此 の 映 画 が 公 開 為 れ る 迄 に 、 様 ざま な ト ラ ブ ル が 有 っ た そ う だ 。 
I heard that this movie had various troubles by the time it came out.
0
10
明日 雨 が 降 る と キ ャ ン プ は 中 止 に な る そ う だ 。 
It seems that if it rains tomorrow the camping will be cancelled.
3

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
AVerb: Casual
 
ANoun だ
 
Aい-adjective
 
Aな-adjective: (without な) だ
 
 
そうだ
Basic Examples:
落ちたそうだ ((I heard) he fell)

無理だそうだ ((I heard) it's impossible)

上手いそうだ ((I heard) it's delicious)

賑やかだそうだ ((I heard) it's lively)

Related Expressions
ということ
らしい
Where this grammar is found


Grammar usage notes

Nothing posted yet!

Questions/Discussion

Nothing posted yet!
 
It looks A; it seems like A
  1. A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  2. It looks A; it seems like A
葡ぶ萄どう、 美味おいし そ う ！ 
The grapes look delicious!
25
外 は 雨 が 降 り そ う だ か ら 傘 を 持 っ て い っ て ね 。 
It looks like it will rain outside, so take an umbrella.
0
30
う ん 。 此 の レ ス ト ラ ン は 高 そ う だ か ら 他 の レ ス ト ラ ン に 行 こ う か ？ 
Hmm.. This restaurant seems expensive, so lets go to another place?
0
27
彼 の ケ ー キ は 凄 く 美味 し そ う な の で 、 食 べ て み た い ！ 
That cake looks really delicious! I want to try eating it!
0
13
雪 が 降 り そ う で す ね 。 
Looks like it'll snow.
0
25
此 の 料 理 は 辛 そ う だ か ら 、 私 は 遠 慮 す る よ 。 
This food looks spicy so I'll pass.
0
15
加奈陀 は 日本 よ り も ず っ と 寒 そ う で す 。 
Looks like Canada is much, much colder than Japan.
0
4
此 の ベ ッ ド は 頑 丈 そ う で す 。 
This bed looks solid.
0
10
此 の 氷 は 今 に も 割 れ そ う だ 。 
This ice looks like it could crack at any moment.
0
14
彼 の お 祖母 さ ん は 元 気 そ う で す 。 
His grandmother looks healthy.
0
16
犬 は 不 安 そ う に 主 人 を 眺 め た 。 
The dog regarded his master anxiously.
0
12
彼 は 不 服 そ う に 口 を 尖 ら せ た 。 
He pouted with dissatisfaction.
0
8
彼 女 は 不 思 議 そ う に 周 り を 見 渡 し た 。 
She looked around in wonder.
0
19
彼 女 は 愉 快 そ う に 笑 っ た 。 
She laughed a merry laugh.
0
9
壁 に 映 っ た 彼 の 影 は 悲 し そ う だ っ た 。 
His shadow on the wall looked sad.
0
3
彼 に は 此方 の マ フ ラ ー の 方 が 似 合 い そ う だ よ ね 。 
Looks like this muffler looks better on him.
0
-1
母 の 手 紙 を 読 む に 付 け 、 泣 き そ う に 成 る 。 
Every time I read my mother's letter, I come close to crying.
0
23
何故 、 君 は 、 そ ん な に 悲 し そ う な 顔 を す る 乃 だ い ？ 
Why are you making such a sad face?
1
30
済 み ま せ ん 、 急 用 の 為 遅 刻 し そ う で す 。 
I'm sorry, they seem to be running late because of some urgent business.
0
14
新 年 度 が 近 い の で 、 父 は 忙 し そ う だ 。 
The new fiscal year is close so Dad looks busy.
0
10
携 帯 電 話 の 電 池 が 無 く 成 り そ う だ か ら 充 電 為 る し か 無 い 。 
The phone looks like it's almost out of power so I've got no choice but to charge it.
0
30
店 長 は 何時 も 寝 不 足 な の で 、 機 嫌 が 悪 そ う に 見 え る 。 
The store manager is always short on sleep so he looks as if he's in a bad mood.
0

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
AVerb: Stem
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
降りそうだ (it looks like it'll rain)

Aい-adjective
-い
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
古そうだ (it looks old)

Aな-adjective
-な
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
新鮮そうだ (it looks fresh)

ANoun
で
は
なさ
そう
だ/だった
(Negative-form)
Basic Examples:
医者ではなさそうだ (it seems like he's not a doctor)

Notes
This is based on what the subject senses (sees, feels).

With nouns, it can only be used in the negative form (present or past tense).
な, に, and だ
The three particles/modifies that follow そう are chosen based on what follows:
Basic Examples
そうな+Noun: おいしそうなケーキ (A delicious looking cake)
そうに+Verb: かれは元気そうに見える (He looks energetic)
そうだ。(end of sentence/clause) そのケーキはおいしそうだ (The cake looks delicious.)
Related Expressions
がっている
ようだ
Where this grammar is found


Grammar usage notes

It's important to distinguish this from the other そうだ meaning A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else. Note that that そうだ often has a だ before it, unlike this one.
This そうだ is only used when the speaker has some visual or other sensory information that leads them to make the statement.
雨が降るそうだ。 I heard that it's going to rain. (off the weather report etc.)
雨が降りそうだ。 It looks like it's going to rain. (looking out the window at black clouds)
58
0
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キバタン
Level: 1
Exceptions to the drop the い and add そう rule for い adjectives:
よい (good) -> よ - い + さそう = よさそう (seems good)
かわいい (cute) -> かわいい -い + そう = かわいそう (Does not mean seems cute! It means poor, pathetic, pitiful)
16
0
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Anonymous123
Level: 1681
9
0
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compmyon
Level: 1433

negative form conjugation

v ない +さそうだ

いAいく　＋　なさそうだ からくなさそう

なAじゃ　＋　なさそうだ 大変じゃなさそう

Nじゃ　＋　なさそうだ 人じゃなさそう

Also for verbs in negative

Vます + そうもない、そうにない、そうにもない

１週間読めそうもない。it seems it can be read in 1 week.

安くなりそうにない。doest look that I'll be cheaper.

10
0
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Rdelav
Level: 404
If you see てそう, it's from そうbeing used with the stem form of V + ている, where ている has been contracted as てる.

V + てい　そう　だ/な/に
V + て　　そう　だ/な/に

Example:
疲れてそうだね (You look/sound tired)
7
0
avatar
Carnelian
Level: 1325

Questions/Discussion

Hello!

Is "このお菓子はおいしそう" a good sentence to say "Those sweets look delicious"?
Or is there a better way to construct this sentence/details to change?
1
0
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Cap11
Level: 249
Can noun+じゃなさそうだ be used as well? (instead of noun+ではなさそうだ)
1
0
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elbatrofmoc
Level: 644

Discussion about this grammar
This section has been archived, and no new posts can be added. Please use the discussion form(s) above.
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Tanooki
Level: 15
Can you combine this with 'mitai'?　Like:
楽しそうな所みたいです。
Or is that too redundant?
0
15 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 346
It sounds redundant to me, but I do not have a grammar rule popping up in my head that explicitly forbids it.
0
15 years ago
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Tanooki
Level: 15
okay, thank you. I'll probably avoid using it like that for now though ^^
0
15 years ago
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Merkaber
Level: 72
Hello guys. I watched an Anime and now I am thinking about the grammar of a sentence. Anime: Bakemonogatari EP 2, Minute 16～ "私を犯そうとしたら..." = "as he tried to rape me..." In this sentence, I am not sure about, if this grammar is correct or just casual speaking. Is there a rule, which says, that a verb can fuse together with "そうだ". :o "私を犯すそうとしたら" sounds really bad, so I am thinking about a rule. You got an idea? PS: sorry for my bad english, I am not a native speaker. :P
1
12 years ago
avatar
マイコー
Level: 346
This will help! https://new.renshuu.org/grammar/87/ If you're not in beta renshuu, that link might not work. If it doesn't, try searching ようとする in the grammar dictionary.
0
12 years ago
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htatsuha
Level: 1147
The construction example for うまい is bound to the wrong dictionary entries (it shows the kanji as 旨居そうだ).
1
8 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 346
Fixed, thanks!
2
8 years ago
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Rdelav
Level: 404

the negative version changes to なさそうだ shouldnt it have its own post, because it just have the noun version but not for the な形容詞　い形容詞　

いAいく　＋　なさそうだ

なAじゃ　＋　なさそうだ

Nじゃ　＋　なさそうだ

[補足]

動詞の場合は「Vます　＋　そうもない／そうにない／そうにもない」と言う。

例）給料は上がりそうもない。

0
1 year ago
avatar
マイコー
Level: 346

I don't have the time at the moment to do an expansion of any existing pages, but it's definitely worth considering in the future.

0
1 year ago


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