Structure
Verb + みたい + だ
［い］Adjective + みたい + だ
［な］Adjective + みたい + だ
Noun + みたい + だ
Details
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Standard
About みたい
In Japanese, there are many ways to express that something happens in a way that is 'like' something else, or 'resembles' something else. One of these ways is through the use of the な-Adjective, みたい. みたい can be used after any word that a な-Adjective would usually follow, to express that something is 'like (A)', or 'similar to (A)'.
In the above examples, we can see that みたい should always be followed by だ (or です) when it is at the end of a statement, however, this is frequently omitted.
みたい is also often used to describe another noun, but needs to be followed by な in these cases. In this type of sentence, it is just expressing that something is '(B), but resembles (A)'.
みたい is used most often in conversational situations, and is based on direct, reliable information. It is far less formal than its counterpart, ようだ.
Caution
Despite みたい meaning 'to resemble', and being based on (usually) visual stimulus, it should not be confused with 見たい 'to want to see'. This is a common mistake that learners make, as みたい itself does not have a kanji form.
Fun Fact
みたいだ is originally an abbreviation of the more formal phrase を見たような. As a result of this, we can see that ようだ kept its formal meaning, while みたい became the casual equivalent.
Related
Examples
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この犬は熊みたいです。
This dog looks like a bear.
あの人は有名人みたいです。
That person looks like a famous person.
今日の昼から雨が降るみたいです。
It looks like it will rain this afternoon.
あの雲は馬みたい。
That cloud resembles a horse. (Looks like)
あのビルは会社じゃなくて病院みたい。
It seems like that building is a hospital, and not a company.
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Difference between そうです、ようです、だろう and らしいです
BriefJapanese
How to use みたい
MaggieSensei
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[AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
Page 153
Genki II 1st Edition
Page 100
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 126
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 260
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みたい – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (8 in total)
Jake
like・similar to, resembling
Structure
・Verb + みたい
・Noun + みたい
・なAdj + みたい
・いAdj + みたいView on Bunpro
AdalwinAmillion
What is the difference between みたい, そう and よう?
clay53
The linked video in the readings section is privated
mathijsdm
Oh yeah, seems so! If you happen to still be looking for the video, this is probably the updated version :
darkness_rising
i just reviewed one of the sentences for this and the recording was of a masculine voice?? when did that happen? did i miss an update where bunpro got new recordings?
Shinzo
I’m learning vocabulary using Tango N4. There I encountered the following sentence:
うさぎを飼ってみたいですIn this sentence, みたい seems to be used to indicate “want to”. So basically instead of 飼いたい (?), the て form is used in conjunction with みたい.
On Bunpro, the only explanation for みたい that I can find is this one. But this doesn’t match the sentence from Tango N4. I found the following website, which supports my assumption:
nekoyama
You’re looking for -てみる. The -てみたい form isn’t taught separately on bunpro but it’s very common that it’s used in this way.
Fuga
Hey @Shinzo !
The てみたい in the sentence うさぎを飼ってみたいです, uses the てみる form, as @nekoyama mentioned, and has been been conjugated using the grammar point たい. We hope this helps you understand better!
simias
I really struggle heavily to understand the distinction between みたい and ようにみえる. Can’t they be used more or less interchangeably? I keep mixing them up in my reviews and it’s frustrating.
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