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

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

Details

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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.



          Examples

          --:--

            ほとんど()くなっているようだ

            It seems that most of it is gone.

            (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)のようだ

            Today's weather looks like a typhoon.

            (かれ)(はな)(かた)(うた)ているようだ

            His way of speaking seems like singing.

            このコーラ(にが)。まるでコーヒーのようだ

            This cola is bitter. It tastes like coffee.

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          ようだ – Grammar Discussion

          Most Recent Replies (18 in total)

          • Eruliuce

            Eruliuce

            Hello,
            I have a question about one of the example sentences in this lesson :
            彼はいつも変な事言っているけど、本当は真面目なようだ。

            I wonder why there isn’t a particle between 変な事 and 言っている.
            I would have put a を there. Would it be wrong ? If not, is it optional for some reason ?

          • casual

            casual

            You would be completely correct in putting を there.

            But in informal speech (friends) and informal writing (chat, SNS) particles are often omitted when they are obvious from context. I don’t know if there are specific rules, but this take sounds reasonable to me: ellipsis - What are the guidelines for omitting particles? - Japanese Language Stack Exchange.

            In this sentence I’m guessing enunciating ことを was too much hassle and so the speaker decided to ditch the を. Since it seems to come from a chat between friends, that sounds fine.

          • Eruliuce

            Eruliuce

            Thank you. I knew you could omit か at the end of questions, but it didn’t occur to me you could drop other particles inside the sentence.
            I suppose it’ll become natural once I hear a lot of spoken Japanese.

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