Structure
Verb［stem］+ そうに + Verb(1)
［い］Adjective［い］+ そうに + Verb(1)
［な］Adjective + そうに + Verb(1)
Verb［stem］(2) + そうな + Noun
(1) Adverb、［い］Adjective、［な］Adjective
(2) ［い］Adjective［い］、［な］Adjective
Details
Standard
About そうに・そうな
そうだ is one of the 18 auxiliary verbs in Japanese, and can be used in the same way as な-Adjectives (may be followed by な when acting as an adjective, or に when acting as an adverb). This is a unique characteristic of そうだ and ようだ. It is not something that can be done with all auxiliary verbs. As with そうだ, そうに and そうな carry the meaning of 'seeming like (A)', or 'looking like (A)'.
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 you will need to be careful of. As always, い will be removed from ない before attaching そう. However, さ will need to be inserted between な, and そう. This results in the construction 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.
Related
Vocab Coverage
All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.
Examples
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Self-Study Sentences
Online
Request Lesson : 〜そう
MaggieSensei
Request Lesson : そうに and そうな Listening Practice
Japanese Test 4 You
Offline
Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai
Page 114
Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
Page 34
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そうに・そうな – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (32 in total)
busnea
Why can’t you use そうに for nouns? Like noun + そうに + Verb . Because you can use it for ［な］Adjectives and Noun + の + よう + だ is possible.
Tensor
Can anyone explain why using みたいな instead of そうな is incorrect here? I’m having trouble identifying that Bunpro is seeking そうな instead. Any reason to not just mark it right?
Asher
Hi there and thanks for posting! みたい and そう are quite often interchangeable, however, this is not the case when it comes to the stem form of adjectives and verbs. If possible, could you link me the sentence that you were struggling with, and I will be able to give you a more thorough explanation.