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)'.

• 明日(あした)は雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るみたいだ。
  It seems like it will snow tomorrow.
• そこのプールは浅(あさ)いみたいだ。
  That pool over there seems shallow.
• 彼(かれ)は地下鉄(ちかてつ)が嫌(きら)いみたいだ。
  It seems like he does not like subways.
• その携帯(けいたい)はパソコンみたいだ。
  That cellphone looks like a computer.

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.

• 先輩(せんぱい)は今日(きょう)は来(こ)ないみたい。
  It seems like senpai is not coming today.

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)'.

• 彼(かれ)はスポーツ選手(せんしゅ)みたいな体をしている。
  He has a body like an athlete.

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.