Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 3: 5/18

そう Look like, Appear, Seem, Have a feeling that

Do not confuse with そうだ (I heard that...).

Structure

Verb［stem］+ そう + だ
［い］Adjective［い］+ そう + だ
［な］Adjective + そう + だ

Negative:
Verb［ない］+ な + そう + だ
［い］Adjective ［ない］ + なさ + そう + だ
［な］Adjective + では(1)ない + なさ + そう + だ

Exceptions:
いい ￫ よい + さそう + だ ￫ よさそうだ

(1) じゃ

Details

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About そう

そうだ is one of the 18 primary auxiliary verbs in Japanese, and can be used in two (2) different ways. The broad meaning in each of its applications is that something 'seems' to be a certain way. Due to this, そう is regularly translated as 'seems like', 'looks like', or 'appears as though'.

In this lesson, we will focus on the form that is used with the conjunctive (stem) form of words. Please examine the structure guide to see these forms.

Caution

そう may also be used when attached to the い-Adjective, ない. In this case, there is a unique conjugation rule which we will need to be careful of. As always, い will be removed from ない before attaching そう. However, さ will be inserted between な, and そう. This creates the expression なさそう.

Note that this addition of さ does not happen with verbs. This is due to the ない that is used with negative verbs being an auxiliary verb, and not an い-Adjective. With the auxiliary verb ない, simply remove the い, before adding そう directly to the stem.

Caution

This そう is utilized exclusively to make predictions/guesses about something based on visual information. It is relatively low confidence, so should not be used for things that are obvious. In these cases, みたい would be used instead.

Antonyms

Related

Examples

--:--

    雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)りそうです。

    It looks like it is going to snow.

    先生(せんせい)の仕事(しごと)は難(むずか)しそうです。

    The job of being a teacher looks difficult.

    今日(きょう)の宿題(しゅくだい)は簡単(かんたん)そうだ。

    Today's homework looks easy.

    その食(た)べ物(もの)は食(た)べやすそう。

    That food looks easy to eat.

    この教科書(きょうかしょ)はとても難(むずか)しそうです。

    This textbook seems very difficult.

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そう – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (35 in total)

  • joela

    joela

    Note that this addition of さ does not happen with verbs. This is due to the ない that is used with negative verbs being an auxiliary verb, and not an い-Adjective. With the auxiliary verb ない, simply remove the い, before adding そう directly to the stem.

    • 彼かれはもうイギリスに帰かえらなそうだ。

    It appears that he is not going back to England.

    From speaking with natives, this seems to either be just wrong or not how actual people speak. Maybe it’s grammatically correct technically but when I asked people, they said the use the さ in verbs as well.

    Edit: Looks like you mentioned this above. I’d say it’s worth saying this in the actual lesson as well.

  • casual

    casual

    This distinction trips me up as well. Intuition from listening suggests people use なさそう even with verbs, so i always forget that なそう is technically correct.

    Found this article with some polls among natives, and an explanation of what’s considered correct: 「降らなそうだ」？　「降らなさそうだ」？ | ことば（放送用語） - 最近気になる放送用語 | NHK放送文化研究所
    Spoiler: indeed many people think both are correct, or even that なそう is incorrect.

  • discopatrick

    discopatrick

    We learn in this point that:

    Note that this addition of さ does not happen with verbs. This is due to the ない that is used with negative verbs being an auxiliary verb, and not an い-Adjective. With the auxiliary verb ない, simply remove the い, before adding そう directly to the stem

    彼はもうイギリスに帰らなそうだ。

    However, it seems we do not see the same exception when it comes to すぎる:

    寝なさすぎたから、疲れた。

    Why is that? Why is ない / な a helper verb in the first case but ない / なさ is an adjective in the second case?

    Also, I think this is the first time I’ve seen ない described as a verb - can anyone explain? Is it really not the same word as ない the adjective? Is the verb なう and ない is the connective form? I might be going out on a limb there but I’m scratching my head to try and make sense of it!

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