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A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  1. A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  2. It looks A; it seems like A
12
                    
Did you hear? (I heard) The Red Sox won yesterday!
30
          
I heard that it's going to rain tomorrow.
11
この      使           
I heard that this computer is hard to use.
11
               
I heard that the train is running late.

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
AVerb: Casual
 
ANoun
 
Aい-adjective
 
Aな-adjective: (without な)
 
 
そう
Basic Examples:
ちたそう ((I heard) he fell)

そう ((I heard) it's impossible)

うまいそう ((I heard) it's delicious)

やかそう ((I heard) it's lively)

Related Expressions
ということ
らしい
Where this grammar is found


Grammar usage notes

Nothing posted yet!

Questions/Discussion

Nothing posted yet!
 
It looks A; it seems like A
  1. A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else
  2. It looks A; it seems like A
ぶどう  おいし    
The grapes look delicious!
19
                     
It looks like it will rain outside, so take an umbrella.
24
   この                          
Hmm.. This restaurant seems expensive, so lets go to another place?
20
あの     すごく おいし              
That cake looks really delicious! I want to try eating it!
9
          
Looks like it'll snow.
19
この                   
This food looks spicy so I'll pass.
9
カナダ                
Looks like Canada is much, much colder than Japan.

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
AVerb: Stem
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
そう (it looks like it'll rain)

Aい-adjective
-い
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
そう (it looks old)

Aな-adjective
-な
そう
だ/な/に
Basic Examples:
そう (it looks fresh)

ANoun
なさ
そう
だ/だった
(Negative-form)
Basic Examples:
ではなさそう (it seems like he's not a doctor)

Notes
This is based on what the subject senses (sees, feels).

With nouns, it can only be used in the negative form (present or past tense).
な, に, and だ
The three particles/modifies that follow そう are chosen based on what follows:
Basic Examples
そうな+Noun: おいしそうなケーキ (A delicious looking cake)
そうに+Verb: かれはそうにえる (He looks energetic)
そうだ。(end of sentence/clause) そのケーキはおいしそうだ (The cake looks delicious.)
Related Expressions
がっている
ようだ
Where this grammar is found


Grammar usage notes

It's important to distinguish this from the other そうだ meaning A is spoken by/heard from someone/something else. Note that that そうだ often has a だ before it, unlike this one.
This そうだ is only used when the speaker has some visual or other sensory information that leads them to make the statement.
るそうだ。 I heard that it's going to rain. (off the weather report etc.)
りそうだ。 It looks like it's going to rain. (looking out the window at black clouds)
0
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キバタン
Level: 1
Exceptions to the drop the い and add そう rule for い adjectives:
よい (good) -> よ - い + さそう = よさそう (seems good)
かわいい (cute) -> かわいい -い + そう = かわいそう (Does not mean seems cute! It means poor, pathetic, pitiful)
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Anonymous123
Level: 1415
0
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compmyon
Level: 1054

negative form conjugation

v な +さそうだ

いAく + なさそうだ からくなさそう

なAじゃ + なさそうだ じゃなさそう

Nじゃ + なさそうだ じゃなさそう

Also for verbs in negative

Vます + そうもない、そうにない、そうにもない

めそうもない。it seems it can be read in 1 week.

くなりそうにない。doest look that I'll be cheaper.

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Rdelav
Level: 279
If you see てそう, it's from そうbeing used with the stem form of V + ている, where ている has been contracted as てる.

V + てい そう だ/な/に
V + て  そう だ/な/に

Example:
れてそうだね (You look/sound tired)
NEW
0
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Carnelian
Level: 684

Questions/Discussion

Nothing posted yet!

Discussion about this grammar
This section has been archived, and no new posts can be added. Please use the discussion form(s) above.
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Tanooki
Level: 14
Can you combine this with 'mitai'? Like:
しそうなみたいです。
Or is that too redundant?
0
13 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 292
It sounds redundant to me, but I do not have a grammar rule popping up in my head that explicitly forbids it.
0
13 years ago
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Tanooki
Level: 14
okay, thank you. I'll probably avoid using it like that for now though ^^
0
13 years ago
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Merkaber
Level: 68
Hello guys. I watched an Anime and now I am thinking about the grammar of a sentence. Anime: Bakemonogatari EP 2, Minute 16~ "そうとしたら..." = "as he tried to rape me..." In this sentence, I am not sure about, if this grammar is correct or just casual speaking. Is there a rule, which says, that a verb can fuse together with "そうだ". :o "すそうとしたら" sounds really bad, so I am thinking about a rule. You got an idea? PS: sorry for my bad english, I am not a native speaker. :P
1
11 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 292
This will help! https://www.renshuu.org/grammar/87/ If you're not in beta renshuu, that link might not work. If it doesn't, try searching ようとする in the grammar dictionary.
0
11 years ago
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htatsuha
Level: 1147
The construction example for うまい is bound to the wrong dictionary entries (it shows the kanji as そう).
1
7 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 292
Fixed, thanks!
2
7 years ago
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Rdelav
Level: 279

the negative version changes to なさそうだ shouldnt it have its own post, because it just have the noun version but not for the な い 

いAいく + なさそうだ

なAじゃ + なさそうだ

Nじゃ + なさそうだ

[]

は「Vます + そうもない/そうにない/そうにもない」とう。

がりそうもない。

0
6 months ago
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マイコー
Level: 292

I don't have the time at the moment to do an expansion of any existing pages, but it's definitely worth considering in the future.

0
6 months ago
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