げ, sometimes seen in the kanji form
気(げ) is a suffix in Japanese that expresses that something is ‘giving off the feeling of (A)’, or ‘seems like (A)’.
げ is frequently used in relation to emotions, feelings, and things that the speaker generally can’t be 100% sure of due to them not being directly visible.
げ is primarily seen used after the stem form of い-Adjectives, but may also appear following the stem forms of nouns of な-Adjectives. In all of these cases, the addition of
げ creates a new な-Adjective meaning ‘(A) seeming’. Due to this,
げ may then be followed by either な or に, depending on whether it is altering a verb or a noun later in the sentence.
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自信(じしん)ありげに見(み)えたかもしれないけど、実(じつ)はめちゃくちゃ緊張(きんちょう)してて吐(は)きそうだった。
I may have given off the appearance of being confident, but actually, I was super nervous and felt like I was going to throw up.
高校生(こうこうせい)たちがファストフード店(てん)で楽(たの)しげに話(はな)しているのを見(み)て、自分(じぶん)が高校生(こうこうせい)の頃(ころ)を思(おも)い出(だ)した。
When I saw highschool students seemingly having a good time talking to each other at a fast food restaurant, it reminded me of the time when I was a highschooler.
高橋(たかはし)くんは不安(ふあん)げに手(て)を上(あ)げました。
Seemingly nervous, Takahashi-kun raised his hand.
げ is more subjective (based on the speaker’s opinion) than そう, and is considered to be very low confidence. This may be considered a byproduct of the original
気(き), meaning of ‘attention’, referring to the way that the speaker ‘senses (A)’, regardless of what is actually true for (A) on the inside.