Hearsay: ～そうだ
In the previous lesson on ～そうだ, we learned that it has two broad functions:
①Following the 連用形 and/or stem to indicate that something “seems” to be.
②Following the 終止形 to indicate the speaker “heard” that something is so.
To distinguish which function of ～そうだ is being referenced throughout this lesson, its first meaning of “seems…” will be called Function 1 and its second meaning of “hear/heard that…” will be called Function 2. Now, let’s get started!
Conjugating w/ Function 2 ～そうだ
The first thing that you will notice about the conjugation power of Function 2 is that it is effectively nonexistent when compared with Function 11, and because it only follows the 終止形, this greatly simplifies how it attaches to words.
| 未然形 | 連用形 | 終止形 | 連体形 | 仮定形 | 命令形 | |
| Function 1 | そうだろ | そうだっ そうで そうに | そうだ | そうな | そうなら | 〇 |
| Function 2 | 〇 | そうで | そうだ | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 |
As we can see from the bases alone, Function 2 CANNOT be conjugated for tense or aspect, with only the て form being available primarily to connect clauses. Function 2 cannot even be used in a question. Although you are free to swap out the copula だ for any of its other variants2, you cannot conjugate them further.
Now, as for what Function 2 FOLLOWS, it may follow the 終止形 of ANY conjugatable part of speech.
| Plain Speech (ex.) | Polite Speech (ex.) | |
| Verbs | 降るそうだ hear that it will rain | 降るそうです hear that it will rain |
| Adjectives | 忙しいそうだ hear that… is busy | 忙しいそうです hear that… is busy |
| Adjectival Nouns | 簡単だそうだ hear that… is easy | 簡単だそうです hear that… is easy |
| Noun + Copula | 雨だそうだ hear that it is rain (coming) | 雨だそうです hear that it is rain (coming) |
| ～ない | 知らないそうだ hear that… doesn’t know | 知らないそうです hear that… doesn’t know |
| ～た | 増えたそうだ heard that… increased | 増えたそうです heard… that increased |
| ～ている | 続けているそうだ hear that… is continuing… | 続けているそうです hear that… is continuing… |
| ～なかった | 分からなかったそうだ heard that… didn’t understand | 分からなかったそうです heard that… didn’t understand |
| Passive | 開かれるそうだ hear that… (event) will be held | 開かれるそうです hear that… (event) will be held |
| Causative | 学ばせるそうだ hear that… will make… learn | 学ばせるそうです hear that… will make… learn |
| ～たい | 行きたいそうだ hear that… wants to go | 行きたいそうです hear that… wants to go |
The Grammaticality of ～そう（だ）
One slight grammatical difference in the usage of だ that can be made between Function 1 and Function 2 is that the final だ should not be dropped, even in casual speech, with Function 2. People point to potential misunderstandings that may occur due to this. Consider the following:
| Example | Intended Meaning | Potential Misinterpretation |
| 人気だそう | Hear… is popular | 人気出そう let’s get popular |
| 手を入れたそう | Heard… put their hand in | 手を入れたそう（にしている） Acting like… wants to put their hand in |
Although the counterargument to these examples is that listening to the context would make the intended meaning obvious, leaving room for misinterpretation is at best bad writing/speech.
However, if ～そうだ is followed by a final particle such as よ or ね, the final だ may be omitted, provided that the speech style is both casual and feminine in nature.
1. 今年は去年よりも結構暑いそうよ・・・
I hear that this year’s gonna be far hotter than last year…
Comparing ～らしい & ～そうだ
～らしい and Function 2 of ～そうだ both indicate hearsay, but the consequence as to what happens if the speaker is wrong feels different depending on which ending is used. Compare the following:
2. セス君が日本人と付き合っているそうだよ。
I hear that Seth is dating a Japanese person.
3. セス君が日本人と付き合っているらしいよ。
Seth is apparently dating a Japanese person.
Although both sentences are relaying hearsay about Seth’s love life, the speaker gives off a somewhat indifferent tone in Ex. 3. In Ex. 2, the speaker gives off the sense that the news is of valuable and that it was taken from a very reliable source, potentially from Seth himself.
Comparatively speaking, ～そうだ gives off a stronger impression than ～らしい that the statement is true. In fact, ～らしい still leaves the door open to the situation not being authenticated. Ironically, this means as for which is more objective, that award goes to ～らしい, because it is not interjecting as much emotional confidence.
Next, let’s compare two considerably more complicated statements.
4.（天気予報によると）台風が関東地方に接近しているらしく、どうやら明日昼頃に東京都に直撃するらしい。
(According to the weather report), a typhoon is apparently approaching the Kanto Region, and it will apparently directly hit Tokyo Prefecture around noon tomorrow.
5. 天気予報によると台風が関東地方に接近しているそうで、確かに風が強くなってきている。明日中に東京に直撃する｛らしい 〇・そうだ △/〇・って◎｝。
I heard, according to the weather report, that a typhoon is approaching the Kanto Region, and the wind is certainly getting stronger. They say that it will directly hit Tokyo sometime tomorrow.
Although the source is not normally mentioned with ～らしい when mentioning hearsay, its use in Ex. 4 makes the speaker sound rather distant towards the situation and to the source. Now, if the source were omitted, both bits of information need not be or felt to be hearsay so much so as they would be objective yet not 100% vetted statements.
As for Ex. 5, the speaker is more involved and feels compelled to get the word out about the typhoon approaching Tokyo. Now, because the second sentence sounds more like a direct quote, using a means of quotation would be most natural than repeating the use of ～そうだ. Although not wrong, repeating ～そうだ does not add clarity to the state of mind of the speaker or the statement itself, as both hearsay comments could have been said as one statement then followed by the visual observation. Furthermore, because the hearsay ～そうだ represents can be visual, oral, or both3, switching up the modal expression would at least allow the speaker to express their feelings better. By using ～らしい instead in the second sentence, we as the listeners can deduce that the typhoon hitting Tokyo is the conclusion that the speaker made from both what the speaker gathered from the news report and from what is happening outside, whereas ～そうだ can only clue us into the trajectory being what they heard about.
6. きのう地震があったそうだ。
I heard there was an earthquake yesterday.
7. きのう地震があったらしい。
There was apparently an earthquake yesterday.
8. きのう地震があったようだ。
It looks like there was an earthquake.
In Ex. 6, the speaker was nowhere near the earthquake. They could have seen and/or heard the damage on the news, but they themselves could not have been witness to it. In Ex. 7, however, the speaker has seen/heard evidence to suggest that an earthquake occurred for themselves. Further context could aid in telling whether comments from the neighborhood – a.k.a hearsay – helped lead the speaker to that conclusion, but what is certain is that the speaker is making a fairly objective observation. Because the sentence is in the past tense, though, it would be unfair to conclude that the speaker is indifferent to the situation with the earthquake already having taken place. Ex. 8, meanwhile, does not indicate hearsay, only the observation that it looks like an earthquake might have occurred.
The sentences shown so far do indeed show that there is interchangeability between ～らしい and ～そうだ, but the impression given will be different, sometimes majorly, and it will be that change in perspective that, if harnessed, will enable you to distinguish them in your own speech.
Example Sentences
9. 「あれ、田中先生は？」「あ、きのう入院したそうですよ」
“Huh, (where is) Tanaka Sensei?” “Ah, (s)he was hospitalized yesterday, I heard.”
10. 延期の理由は詳細不明の病気だそうです。
(People) are saying that the reason for the postponing was (the person in question) was ill with an undisclosed illness.
11. 噂によれば、二人は離婚するそうです。
Rumor has it that the two are getting a divorce.
12. 羅生門はいい映画だそうです。
They say that Rashomon is a good movie.
Culture Note: 羅生門 is a very popular crime scene movie in Japan from the 1950s created by the renowned producer 黒澤明.
13. シンガポールで地震があったそうだ。
I heard that there was an earthquake in Singapore.
14. 天気予報では今日は雨が降らないそうです。
I heard it’s not going to rain today from the weather report.
15. ケイトさんは日本語があまり上手じゃないそうですが、それは本当なのでしょうか。
I hear that Kate isn’t that good at Japanese, but is that really true?
16. スタッフも英語力が鈍らないように勉強しているそうです。
I hear that even the staff studies so that their English doesn’t get rusty.
17. 「あの人は子供の欲しいものは何でも買ってやるそうですよ」「よっぽど甘やかしているんでしょう」
“I hear that person always buys whatever her kids want.” “(They) must really be spoiling (the kid), huh.”
18. テレビ局が来月からタガログ語の番組を放送するそうです。
I hear that the TV network will air a Tagalog program starting next month.
- Ultimately, Function 2 is just an offshoot of Function 1, made possible by ～そうだ’s overall ability to show how something seems to be. The true difference, putting hearsay aside, is one of tense. With Function 1, the state/action is already in progress, is about to happen, or was about to happen (provided ～そうだ itself is conjugated into the past). With Function 2, the/state action either seemingly will occur or seemingly has occurred. In fact, in Early Modern Japanese, it was possible to see the 終止形 used instead of the 連用形 to indicate a seemingly imminent event provided that the sentence was of a firsthand account, usually the speaker referring to oneself. ↩︎
- By variants, geographical variants as well as speech-register variants are all being referenced – ex. や, じゃ, です, である, でございます, etc. ↩︎
- Note that although the information composing the hearsay may have been visually or orally obtained, the medium is always through another person. Whereas for ～らしい the range of information being called upon is far larger and not limited to people, thus why it is not always necessarily indicating hearsay. ↩︎