ISORI

〜そうだ

JLPT N4:

looks like

Says how something looks, or what seems about to happen, judging by what you can see: "looks…", "looks like it's going to…".

How to form it

  • For verbs, start from the ます form and replace ます with そうだ: 降(ふ)ります becomes 降(ふ)りそうだ (it looks like rain).
  • い-adjectives drop the final い and add そうだ: おいしい becomes おいしそうだ.
  • な-adjectives add そうだ: 元気(げんき)そうだ.
  • いい becomes よさそうだ, and ない becomes なさそうだ.
  • Before a noun it takes な, and before a verb it takes に: おいしそうなケーキ, 楽(たの)しそうに話(はな)す (talk happily).

Examples

verb
降(ふ)る(to fall (rain))降(ふ)りそうだ
い-adjective
おいしい(tasty)おいしそうだ
いい(good)よさそうだnot いさそうだ
な-adjective
元気(げんき)(well)元気(げんき)そうだ

Example sentences

雨(あめ)が降(ふ)りそうです。

It looks like it's going to rain.

このケーキはおいしそうです。

This cake looks delicious.

Notes

  • It is a guess from appearance, so it is not used for what you can plainly see. Say きれいな人(ひと) (a beautiful person), not きれいそうな人(ひと).
  • Nouns do not take this そうだ. Use 〜みたいだ or 〜ようだ.

Common mistakes

  • Confusing it with hearsay そうだ. 降(ふ)りそうだ means it looks like rain; 降(ふ)るそうだ means you heard it will rain.

Similar meaning

Same form, different meaning