Seem: ～そうだ
The auxiliary ～そうだ derives from the word 様（さま）meaning “appearance,” and just as this literal interpretation would suggest, this auxiliary is used to indicate conjecture. It does so in two uniquely different grammatical scenarios:
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.
For the purpose of this lesson, we will narrow our focus to just the first scenario.
To Look/Seem So: ～そうだ
～そうだ indicates that something “seems” a certain way based on the speaker’s own intuition as to the nature, quality, or perceived likelihood. How this ending ultimately translates depends on what part of speech is at play.
■With Adjectives/Adjectival Nouns
When paired with adjectives/adjectival nouns, ～そうだ indicates the speaker’s intuition on the state of being of what is being discussed.
Unlike other auxiliary verbs, ～そうだ attaches itself to the stem (語幹) of adjectives/adjectival nouns as opposed to one of their conjugational bases.
| Part of Speech | Basic Form (基本形) | ＋～そうだ |
| Adjectives | 忙しい (to be busy) | 忙しそうだ (to seem busy) |
| Adjectival Nouns | 簡単だ (to be easy) | 簡単そうだ (to seem easy) |
Grammar Note: To express “it seems to be,” でありそうだ is used – the combination of the 連用形 of である, the uncontracted form of だ, and ～そうだ.
Depending on the context, it may be more natural to translate ～そうだ as “to look” as opposed to “to seem.” With this ending, the speaker indicates there is more than enough reason to suggest the claim, meaning it is not limited to just outward appearance, even if how the situation looks is what prompts the remark.
1. このお化け屋敷は怖そうだ。
This haunted house looks scary.
2. うわあ、美味しそう！
Wow, it looks delicious!
Grammar Note: It is very common to see だ omitted, especially in exclamatory sentences such as this one.
Strangely, there are two adjectives1 which conjugate irregularly with ～そうだ, exhibiting what is known as “さ-insertion.”
| Basic Form (基本形) | ＋～さそうだ |
| 良い (to be good/fine) | よさそうだ (to seem fine) |
| 無い (to not be/have) | なさそうだ (to seem to not be/have) |
3. 今日は調子がよさそうだね。
You look good today.
4. 使う機会がなさそうだ。
There doesn’t appear to be a chance to use it.
5. 隣人の犬はなんて可哀相（だ）！
The neighbor’s poor dog!
Meaning Note: The combination of かわいい (cute) and ～そうだ does not produce the meaning of “seems cute,” but rather “poor/pitiful/pathetic,” which itself is a relic of how the adjective itself once referred to a sight which one dare not look at lest one wanted to end up the same way. As for why かわいそうだ is written in Kanji, 可哀相・可哀想 are interchangeable Ateji spellings.
Though not irregular as far as conjugating goes, you may also see ～たそうだ, which utilizes ～たい to indicate desire to do something. Thus, ～たそうだ indicates what it seems like someone is wanting to do.
6. なんだよ、何か言いたそうだな。
What’s the matter? It seems like you wanna say something, huh?
7. 飼い主さんから、「吐きたそうにしている」と見えても、実は咳であるということがよくあります。
Even when it looked like (the pet) was seemingly trying to puke (up something) from (the perspective of) the owner, often times, it’s really just coughing.
■With Verbs
When paired with verbs, ～そうだ indicates that one has a feeling that an action is about to occur, and this feeling comes from one’s own intuition/knowledge base. Whenever a speaker is compelled to use this ending, the likelihood of the guess that they are making will actually come to pass is rather high2, that is unless the speaker is being sarcastic (see Ex. 6).
| Basic Form (基本形) | ＋～そうだ |
| 降る (to rain) | 降りそうだ (to seem like will rain) |
| 落ちる (to fall/drop) | 落ちそうだ (to seem like will fall) |
| 死ぬ (to die) | 死にそうだ (to seem like will die) |
8. 今日は暑くて死にそうだよ。
Today is so hot I feel like I’m about to die.
9. 古い鳥居は今にも倒れそうだ。
The old torii looks like it might fall down at any moment.
10. 当分の間、今回の熱波は居据りそうだ。
It seems as though this current heat wave will persist for the time being.
11. 廊下の電気が消えそうだ。
The hallway light(s) seem like they are going to go out.
12. もうすぐ桜の花が咲きそうだよ。
It seems that the cherry blossoms will bloom soon.
13. 戦争が起こりそうだ。
It seems as though a war might happen.
14. 彼は100歳まで生きられそうだ。
It seems like he’ll make it to 100.
Grammar Note: Here, we see that ～そうだ can be used in conjunction with the ～られる potential form. The same can also be said of できる.
13. 試験に合格できそうだ。
It seems like (I) might be able to pass the exam.
In fact, ～そうだ can be used with all sorts of conjugations – the passive, causative, etc., just to name a few.
14. この事件は、日米関係を大きく改善させそうだ。
This incident seems like it will greatly improve Japanese-American relations.
15. ダイビングをしていた男性がクジラに飲み込まれそうになった事件が起きた。
An incident occurred in which a man who that was diving seemed like he was about to get swallowed by a whale.
Conjugating ～そうだ
As with any ending, ～そうだ has its own conjugations. Although it might seem safe to assume that knowing the various forms of だ would be enough, ～そうだ manages to have its own peculiarities. First, let’s look at its regular, most basic conjugations.
| Polite Non-Past | ～そうです |
| Plain Past | ～そうだった |
| Polite Past | ～そうでした |
16. マレーシアは、今日は天気がよさそうです。
The weather seems nice today in Malaysia.
17. もうしばらく続きそうです。
It seems like it will continue for a little longer.
18. このステーキは美味しそうです！
This steak looks delicious.
19. まだ使えそうだったのに壊れてしまった。
Even though it looked like it could still be used, it ended up breaking.
20. 昨日は寒くて雪が降りそうでしたが、雨でした。
Yesterday, it was so cold it seemed like it would snow, but it rained.
21. バランスが崩れて、一瞬倒れそうだった。
I lost my balance, and for a moment, it seemed like I was going to fall down.
22. 今ならまだ間に合いそうです。
(I/we) can still make it time if (we go) now.
23a. 忙しそうですね。
You seem/look busy.
23b. 忙しいようです。
(He/she) seems to be busy.
Nuance Note: ～そうだ indicates an intuitive judgment, whereas ～ようだ indicates an objective yet not entirely conclusive assessment based on what is presented.
■The Conjugational Bases of ～そうだ
Aside from the basic conjugations shown so far, it is also important to know more specifically what the bases are, which will allow you to use this ending to its full potential.
| 未然形 | 連用形 | 終止形 | 連体形 | 仮定形 | 命令形 |
| 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 |
With proper knowledge of how these bases work, you may not need to look at each of these forms individually, but let’s do so anyway, just so we can see how those individual base functions match up with ～そうだ.
Use of the 未然形: そうだろ
The 未然形 is used in only one construction, and that is with the auxiliary ～う. However, when used with copular expressions such as ～そうだ, it does not express volition (let’s), but rather that something “will probably happen/be so.” How to exactly interpret ～そうだろう depends a lot on intonation and whether the speaker is turning the statement into a question. Translations include “seem,” “probably,” or “right?”
Speech Register Note: The polite version of ～そうだろう is ～そうでしょう. Note that it is also possible to see う dropped in either form in more casual speech.
24. そんなに普段の私は怖そうだろうか？
Is my normal self really that scary?
25. 受かりそうだろうが落ちそうだろうが突っ込むしかじゃないか？
Whether it seems you’re gonna pass it or fail it, you just gotta dive right into it, no?
26. このスケジュールで進行は大丈夫そうでしょうか？
Does our progress seem okay with this schedule?
27. 高熱な上に重い鞄を持っているので今にも倒れそうだろうに、健次君はいつも通りの笑顔で「またね」と言ってきた。
Even though he seemed like he might collapse at any moment because of how he was holding a heavy bag on top of having a high fever, Kenji-kun came up to me to say, “see ya,” with a smile on his face as he always does.
use of the 連用形: そうだっ・そうで・そうに
The three possible 連用形 of ～そうだ each match up with a specific function that the copula だ may have in this base.
▽The そうだっ 連用形 is only used with the past tense ～た.
28. 売れそうだったけど、意外と売れなかったよ。
It seems like it’d sell well, but it surprisingly didn’t.
The そうで 連用形 is used when connecting a clause containing ～そうだ as a dependent clause to an independent clause.
29. 壊れそうで怖い。
I’m scared it might break.
Literally: It looks like it will break, and I’m scared of that.
30. 彼氏がすごく忙しそうでどう声をかけたらいいか迷っています。
My boyfriend seems super busy, and I’m at a loss as to how I should reach out to him.
Speech Register Note: The polite て form ～そうでして does exist, but it is very indicative of the spoken language in uber-polite speech.
31. 取引先にご同行願えますか？ちょっと専門的な質問をされそうでして・・・
Could I have you please accompany me when I go to my client? I have a feeling they’re going to ask some technical questions…
The そうに 連用形 is used when transforming this grammar point into an adverb, which translates into English as “as if/look.”
32. 店員さんたちが忙しそうに片づけをしていました。
The workers looked busy as they were tiding up.
33. 忙しそうにしている人は、忙しそうに見える様にしているだけだ。
People who look as if they are busy are only making themselves appear to be busy.
34 仕方なく一成は受話器を置いた。初老の守衛が怪訝そうにしているので、すぐにその場を立ち去ることにした。
Kazunari reluctantly put the phone receiver down. The middle-aged security guard was giving a questioning look, so Kazunari swiftly decided to leave the area.
From 白夜行 by 東野圭吾.
35. ゆっくり朝ご飯を食べていたら、遅刻しそうになった。
Having been eating my breakfast slowly, it seemed like (I) was going to be late.
Use of the 終止形
The 終止形, simply put, is the form used at the end of a clause, but specifically either an independent clause at the end of a sentence, or a dependent clause that is followed by specific conjunction particles such as が and けれど.
Speech Register Note: The polite forms ～そうですが・そうですけれど are valid, but they are avoided in the written language for the same reason ～そうでして is, which is politeness in prescriptive grammar need only be marked in the final conjugation of the sentence. Nonetheless, speakers do sense a need to make every aspect of their speech as formal as possible when having conversations with people of far higher status.
36. 薬飲み終わりそうだが、治ってないので、内科（に）行こうかなと思って。
It looks like I’m about to finish my medicine, but since I haven’t gotten better, I’m thinking about seeing a physician.
37. 皆さん、本当に仲が良さそうですけれど、本来ならば商売敵ですよね？
Everyone seems like they really get along so well, but by all rights, aren’t you all business rivals?
38. アメリカの長期金利上昇はまだまだ続きそうだ。
The hiking of America’s long-term interest rate seems like it will continue for a long while.
Use of the 連体形
The 連体形 そうな is used when directly modifying a noun.
39. 難しそうな本だ。
It’s a difficult-looking book.
40. 由紀子は興味なさそうな顔をして話を聞いていた。
Yukiko was listening to (him/her/them) talk with a disinterested look on her face.
41. 赤ちゃんは泣き出しそうな顔をしていた。
The baby looked like it was about to burst out crying.
Use of the 仮定形
The 仮定形 そうなら utilizes the particle なら. In fact, the particle なら is the 仮定形 of the copula. Generally speaking, you will not see anything attached to this base except ば on occasion, although ならば3 is technically the uncontracted rendition.
42. 好きな相手の心が離れていきそうなら、このポイントに気をつけると、うまく行く！
If it seems like the heart of the one you love is drifting away from you, you’ll get on the right track if you pay attention to these points!
43. 「死ぬほど部活やめたいです。どうしたらいいですか。」「今すでに死にそうならば、迷うことなく辞めてはどうでしょうか。」
“I’m dying to quit my club. What should I do?” “If you already feel now like you’re going to die, then without hesitation, what say you do quit?”
There are, of course, other hypothetical forms: ～そうだったら4 and ～そうであれば5. Note that, ～そうだと6 would not be interpreted as a hypothetical.
Of these three hypothetical forms shown, ～そうなら is the most neutral in tone, especially when giving suggestions. ～そうだったら7 sounds lighter/more colloquial in tone when giving suggestions. Naturally, ～そうであれば, being the wordiest, is the most stiff/formal in tone, which adds a sense of direction to a suggestion.
44. 大変そうだったら、こっち（で）やるよ？
If it seems too much, I’ll do it for ya, y’know?
45. 厳しそうであれば、どちらか片方でも描いていただけると嬉しいです。
If (schedule-wise) it seems too tight, I’d still be happy with you just illustrating one or the other.
The Negative Forms of ～そうだ
Having seen various conjugations, it may seem strange that the negative forms of ～そうだ have not been showcased aside from its appearance with ない. This is because where to place the negation in the structure is not to just one spot. First, consider the difference between the two sentences in English.
i. The dog seems not so happy.
ii. The dog does not seem to be so happy.
Japanese grammar poses the same dilemma. The shifting of where the negation element is placed produces a minimal change in nuancing. As for Japanese, though, this shifting inevitably causes significant structural change. When you place negation first, you get ～なそうだ or ～なさそうだ depending on how ない is being used, but when you place negation last, you get ～そうで（は）ない, ～そうにない, or even そう（に）もない.
The difference between ～なそうだ and ～なさそうだ is convoluted at best. As a standalone adjective, the insertion of さ is both accepted and the norm.
46. 裁判で勝ったけど、相手にはお金がなさそう・・・
I won in court, but the other side doesn’t seem to have money…
When it forms the negative form of adjectives, ない displays a highly degree of independence than when it forms the negative form of verb. This can be proven from several angles. One, as a true auxiliary, ～ない ought to follow the 未然形, but it only does so with verbs. In the case of adjectives/adjectival nouns, the 連用形 is used adverbially8 to modify ない, and not the other way around. This allows for adverbial particles like は・も to be inserted in between, which is notably not possible with verbs.
47. このビデオゲームは面白く（は・も）なさそうだ。
This video game looks uninteresting.
Because ない can be viewed as a separate word when with adjectives/adjectival nouns, ～なさそうだ is viewed as being correct and expected here. There are a handful of phrases such as 情けない (pathetic), though, in which ない is viewed as being fused with the preceding noun, which results in さ being dropped, but the form with さ remains the correct form.
In actual practice, さ appears wherever ～ない does, including with verbs and even adjectives that happen to end in ない but not for negation – ex. 少ない → 少なそうだ 〇／少なさそうだ △.
48. 成瀬はつまらなさ9そうに言った。
Naruse said in a disappointed tone.
From 顔に降りかかる雨 by 桐野夏生.
49. 雨が降らなそうです。
It seems as though it will not rain.
50. 誰も知らなそうだ。
It seems that no one knows.
51. お肌には優しくなさそうです。
It doesn’t seem too good for (literally “nice to”) your skin.
52. 最近彼氏が楽しくなさそうで辛い。
I’m having a tough time with my boyfriend not seeming happy as of late.
The placing of the negation element first in this construct actually lessens its role in the sentence, which is parallel to the consequence of moving “not” after “seem” as we saw in i. In fact, in many circumstances, one can make the argument that this is not the most ‘natural’ means, and the same can be said in Japanese.
It often takes just the right balancing of emphasis to get ～なそうだ, in particular, to sound natural. The form ～そうではない10, which places negation last, is far more emphatic, as is demonstrated by Exs. 53-54.
Politeness Note: In polite speech registers, ない still manifests as either ないです or ありません.
53. 全然面白くなさそうなゲームのCMが大量に流されていますが、どう見ても全く面白そうではありません。
There are tons of commercials being aired for this game that looks totally uninteresting, but no matter how I look at it, it just doesn’t look interesting one bit.
54. 彼は誠実そうでも優しそうでもない。
He doesn’t even seem loyal or nice.
55. デート行きそうじゃない？11
Don’t (they) look like they’re gonna go on a date?
It would be remiss of us not to go over the negative past forms. So long as the nuancing is worked out properly, both～な（さ）そうだだった and ～そうではなかった may be seen.
Politeness Note: Likewise, ～な（さ）そうでした and ～そうではなかったです・そうではありませんでした are their polite negative past forms.
56. 公演デビューをした猫だけど、まったく楽しそうではなかった。
So, about that cat that made its public debut, it did not seem happy at all.
57. 風邪じゃなさそうでした12。
It didn’t seem to be a cold/(He/she) didn’t seem to have a cold.
As for ～そうにない・そうもない・そうにもない,13 these negative forms appear when making it clear that one thinks a certain outcome is just not going to happen, and this opinion is, of course, based on the speaker’s own judgment/assessment of the matter at hand. Sentences with these forms are clearly in regard to the future.
58. このままだと、帰れそうにもない。
At this rate, there is no way that [I/we] will be able to go home.
59. 景気は依然として好転しそうにない。
It still appears that there is no improvement in sight for the economy.
60. 会議は始まりそうもないなあ。
It doesn’t seem like the meeting will ever start.
61. 忙しすぎて、今年の同窓会には参加できそうにない。
I’m just so busy, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to attend this year’s reunion.
～て（い）そうだ
The last conjugation that we will look at is ～ていそうだ. Whenever ~ている is combined with ～そうだ, it must only be interpreted as indicating a current state. Note that い is frequently dropped in casual speech.
62. このカメラは壊れていそうだ。
This camera seems broken.
63. きょう二人で練習したんですけど、（川野君が）疲れてそうな感じでした。
The two of us practiced today, but (Kawano-kun) gave off this sense that he was tired.
64. 小次郎君てさ、冬でも半袖とか着て、「全然平気です」って顔してそうだね。
Kojiro-kun seems like that kinda guy who’d wear short-sleeves even in winter and still have that face of “I’m totally fine.”
As to why a speaker would choose this phrasing over utilizing ～ようだ or みたいだ, the point being made is a subjective one – functionality in Ex. 62 – as opposed to just seeming to be outwardly broken.
～そな
Though not terribly common, the 連体形 may be seen contracted as ～そな. This is not a recent phenomenon, showing up just as soon as the ending itself did, which goes against the common logic of colloquial contractions having to be new fads just not accepted yet. Watch out as you listen to pop songs and casual conversations, as you will hear it from time to time.
65. パッとフラッと消えちゃいそな次の瞬間を残そうか
How about we save that next moment where it seems like we might just suddenly and aimlessly disappear?
From 『ワールズエンド・ダンスホール』by wowaka.
～そー
In casual writing, long vowels may frequently be spelled with ー, and ～そうだ is no exception to this norm. It is, though, only seen when だ is omitted because the point of using ー is to indicate a dragging out of the vowel.
66. 狂っちゃいそー！
I feel like I might lose it!
- It may seem tempting to stipulate that さ is inserted in this manner with adjectives whose stem is mono-syllabic; however, other such adjectives do not exhibit this irregularity – 濃い (to be thick) → 濃そうだ 〇・濃さそうだ X. ↩︎
- In fact, ～そうだ is often described as a euphemized declarative statement (婉曲化した断定表現). ↩︎
- Perhaps due to no longer being used productively in the spoken language, ならば has a rather poetic tone, or if it is used in speech, the speaker would be attempting to sound more serious without having to sound too harsh. ↩︎
- だったら involves the copula + the 未然形 of ～た: たら. たら is then analyzed as a conjunctive particle in its own right, but it still may be on rare occasions followed by ～ば, resulting in ～たらば, though this is not common in standard speech. What is slightly more common, however, is the form ～たなら（ば）, which is viewed as the uncontracted form of the particle たら. ↩︎
- であれば involves using the uncontracted form of だ – である – and attaching the particle ば to its 仮定形. Naturally, since である is more formal than だ, likewise, であれば is more formal than なら（ば）. ↩︎
- The particle と would be interpreted with its citation function, as と-hypothetical statements require a 100% cause-and-effect relationship, which is incongruent with how ～そうだ functions. ↩︎
- Although たら is frequently used with いい・よかった to express “if it were only,” this grammar point does not match well with ～そうだ because ～そうだ is an observation made before finding out for sure. To get around this, you would have to use ～そうに見えたら｛いい・よかった｝. ↩︎
- With adjectives using ～く（は・も）ない and adjectival nouns using ～で（は・も）ない, it might seem strange that the latter does not use the に 連用形, but the で iteration is still etymologically tied to に – ultimately being a contraction of にて – and its gerund-like property fits well with the adjectival noun class. However, as is evident from ～そうにない, the presence of [にない] is more than plausible, albeit in a restricted fashion. See 7 below. ↩︎
- つまらない means “boring,” and although it translates as an adjective, it is nonetheless the negative form of the intransitive verb つまる in the idiomatic sense of “to end up.” ↩︎
- When to drop は, contract では to じゃ, or insert も to produce ～そうでもない are all matters concerning the proper use of these particles and understanding their role in fine-tuning the tone of the sentence. ↩︎
- In this sentence, ～なそうだ would be incorrect because the negative is not being used literally. ↩︎
- Because ～そうだ cannot directly attach itself to nouns, this means that ～そうではない is not valid in this sentence. Therefore, with copular sentences such as this, only ～ではなさそうだ and its variants are valid. ↩︎
- The use of に adds a bit of objectiveness to the tone of the sentence which would otherwise be lacking with ～そうだ. When も is used, the likelihood of the situation not occurring is even less probable in the mind of the speaker. Combined, にも is the slightly more composed rendition when these two nuances are put together. It must also be noted that the grammatical role に specifically has here is marking what state of progress an action/effect is in. ↩︎