Structure
Noun + らしい。
Noun + らしく + Phrase
Noun + らしい + Noun
Details
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Standard
使用域
一般
About らしい ②
In our first らしい lesson, we discussed the auxiliary verb use of らしい. In this lesson we will focus on the 形容詞の一部 (auxiliary adjective) usage. An auxiliary adjective is a type of adjective that must be attached to another word for it to have any meaning.
To use らしい in this way, it must be attached to the end of a noun, and will imply that something is 'typical of (A)', where (A) is the noun that comes before it. As this らしい behaves like an い-Adjective, it may also be conjugated to らしく, before a (B) phrase will explain more about 'what' is/was typical of (A).
However, it may also be used negatively, to show that something is (often surprisingly) 'uncharacteristic of (A)'.
To use らしい in this way, it must be attached to the end of a noun, and will imply that something is 'typical of (A)', where (A) is the noun that comes before it. As this らしい behaves like an い-Adjective, it may also be conjugated to らしく, before a (B) phrase will explain more about 'what' is/was typical of (A).
- トムは本当に男らしいね。Tom, you are really manly.
- タケル君はもうお兄ちゃんなので、お兄ちゃんらしくしなさい!Takeru, you are already an older brother, so you should act like an older brother!
- やっと10月らしい天気になったね。It has finally become October-like weather, don't you think?
However, it may also be used negatively, to show that something is (often surprisingly) 'uncharacteristic of (A)'.
- トムがこんなに勉強をしているのは見たことがない、トムらしくない。I've never seen Tom study this much. It's very uncharacteristic of him.
- 今日は8月らしくないです。涼しいです。Today is not typical of August. It's cool.
- 彼女は女らしくない人だ。She is an unladylike person.
Fun Fact
When the noun that appears in (A) and (B) are the same, it will imply that (A) is the 'prime example of (B)', or 'the most (A), (B)'.- 今年の8月は夏らしい夏だね。August this year is the prime example of summer. (Literally, 'the most summery summer')
Synonyms
Examples
父親:「学校に行きたくなくなることは子供らしい。オレもそうだったよ。」
Father: 'Not wanting to go to school is typical of children. I was also like that.'
スコット:「これは一番だいこんらしいだいこんだよ!」
Scott: 'This is the most radish radish among radishes!'
When the same noun is used, it expresses a perfect example, apex, real. Like: 'manly man', etc.
スーツの色で一番人気なのは黒だと思っている。一番サラリーマンらしいし、他の服にも合いやすいから。
I think that the most popular suit color is black. Because it is (the color) most typical of company employees and easily matches other clothes.
トモちゃんは女の子だけど、女らしくない。
Tomo-chan is a girl, but she is unladylike.
「もっと大人らしくしなさいよ!」
'Behave more like an adult!'
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らしい
Maggie Sensei
How to use らしい
Wasabi
いかにも + らしい
Learn Japanese Daily
みたいな vs ような vs らしい vs っぽい [video]
Japanese Ammo with Misa
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Tobira
Page 121
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 267
[AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
Page 73
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らしい ② – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (10 in total)
Superpnut
I don’t really get what you mean by phrase in this grammar point
- Noun + らしく + Phrase
Could I get a quick explanation or maybe an example because I’m not really sure
- Noun + らしく + Phrase
nekoyama
I think it’s just a way to say “a bunch of words”. In linguistics, a phrase is a grammatical unit that can consist of multiple words. Not all phrases are valid here, but there isn’t really enough room to put a complete list. But it would be the same one as for い-adjectives in their く-form or for adverbs.
Among the example sentences, there is this one:
カップルらしく 映画を見に行こうI picked it because it’s fairly long compared to the other examples. The entire part after らしく is the “phrase”.
Superpnut
Thanks, I wasn’t sure what it meant. I kinda thought it meant what you were saying but I wasn’t sure. I guess I just never thought something like “going to the movies” was considered a phrase I just thought it was a sentence. But I get what they mean by phrase now thanks
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