Looks like and I heard: 〜そうです, 〜らしい and 〜ようです

Weather forecasts, news headlines and messages from coworkers are full of guesses and second-hand information: “it looks like rain”, “I heard the factory closes early tomorrow”, “it seems the train is late”. Japanese has a different ending for each kind of guess. This lesson teaches the four you need at N4 — そうです (two kinds), ようです / みたい and らしい — and the words of a weather forecast.

It looks like: stem + そうです

Put そうです after the ます-stem of a verb or the stem of an adjective to say what you see: 雨がふりそうです — “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.” リーさんは元気そうです — “Lee looks well.” Two special forms: いい → よさそう and ない → なさそう (時間がなさそうです). Before a noun it becomes そうな: おいしそうなりんご.

Word	Looks …	Meaning
ふる	ふりそうです	looks like it will rain / fall
おいしい	おいしそうです	looks delicious
高い	高そうです	looks expensive
いい	よさそうです	looks good
ない	なさそうです	there doesn’t seem to be
元気 (な)	元気そうです	looks well

This そうです is about how things look — it is not used for things you can see are true. For a beautiful view you can clearly see, say きれいです, not きれいそうです.

I heard that: plain form + そうです

After a full plain form, そうです means “I heard that …”: あしたは雪ゆきがふるそうです — “I heard it will snow tomorrow.” 工場は早く閉しまるそうです — “I heard the factory will close early.” After nouns and な-adjectives, use だそうです: あしたは休みだそうです. Say where you heard it with 〜によると: 天気予報よほうによると、あしたは雨だそうです — “According to the weather forecast, it will rain tomorrow.”

Word type	Looks like (what I see)	I heard (what I was told)
verb	ふりそうです (stem)	ふるそうです (plain form)
い-adjective	高そうです (stem)	高いそうです (plain form)
noun	—	雨だそうです

It seems: 〜ようです and 〜みたい

ようです is a guess based on what you can see, hear or feel yourself: 電車が遅おくれているようです — “It seems the train is late (the platform is crowded).” だれもいないようです — “It seems nobody is in.” After nouns use の: 風邪かぜのようです; after な-adjectives な: ひまなようです. In conversation, みたい means the same and follows plain forms and nouns directly: 風邪かぜみたい, 遅おくれてるみたい. ようです is polite and written; みたいです is everyday speech.

Apparently and typical: 〜らしい

らしい after a plain form means “apparently”: something you heard or read, with a little distance — あの店はもうすぐ閉しまるらしいです — “Apparently that shop is closing soon.” After nouns it has no だ: あしたは雨らしいです. らしい after a noun can also mean “typical of”: 春らしい天気 — “real spring weather”; リーさんらしい — “that’s just like Lee”. Recognise this second use; you will meet it in reading.

Which one?

Form	Based on	Example
stem + そうです	how it looks to you	雨がふりそうです
plain + そうです	what you were told (you pass it on)	雨がふるそうです
〜ようです / みたい	what you see, hear or feel — your own guess	雨がふっているようです
〜らしい	what you heard or read, a bit indirect	雨がふるらしいです

The weather forecast

Word	Reading	Meaning
天気予報よほう	てんきよほう	weather forecast
晴はれ	はれ	sunny
くもり	くもり	cloudy
雨 / 雪ゆき	あめ / ゆき	rain / snow
晴はれのちくもり	はれのちくもり	sunny, cloudy later
降水確率こうすいかくりつ	こうすいかくりつ	chance of rain (%)
最高気温さいこうきおん	さいこうきおん	highest temperature

An original example: 天気予報よほうによると、あしたは晴はれのち雨だそうです。夕方から風が強くなるようですから、早く帰ったほうがいいですね — “According to the forecast, tomorrow will be sunny, then rain. It seems the wind will get stronger in the evening, so we’d better go home early.” For typhoon and heavy-rain warnings, see our earthquakes and emergencies guide.

Passing on news at work

グエン：山下さん、ニュースを見ましたか。台風が来るそうですよ。
山下：ええ。リーダーの話によると、あしたは工場が早く閉しまるらしいです。
グエン：そうですか。外は、もう雨がふりそうですね。
山下：駅の方も人が多おおいようです。電車が遅おくれているみたいですよ。

Nguyen: Yamashita-san, did you see the news? I heard a typhoon is coming. Yamashita: Yes. According to the team leader, apparently the factory will close early tomorrow. Nguyen: I see. It already looks like rain outside. Yamashita: It seems there are a lot of people around the station too. The trains seem to be late.

New kanji: 世, 界, 海, 洋, 有

世 and 界 make 世界 (せかい, the world); 世界中 (せかいじゅう) is “all over the world”. 海 is the sea: 海 (うみ) and 海外 (かいがい, abroad). 洋 means ocean and, in many words, “Western”: 洋服ふく (ようふく, Western clothes) and 洋食 (ようしょく, Western food), the opposite of 和食わしょく (Japanese food). 有 means to have or exist: 有名 (ゆうめい, famous) and 有給きゅう休暇か (ゆうきゅうきゅうか, paid leave).

Common mistakes

• Mixing the two そうです: 雨がふりそうです = it looks like rain; 雨がふるそうです = I heard it will rain.
• いいそうです for “looks good”: よさそうです ✓ (いいそうです means “I heard it is good”).
• そうです (looks) for things you can clearly see: この花はきれいそうです ✗ → きれいです ✓.
• Forgetting の: 風邪かぜようです ✗ → 風邪かぜのようです ✓ (but 風邪かぜみたい ✓).
• Passing on a rumour as a fact: with 〜そうです or 〜らしいです your listener knows you heard it from someone else.

How to practise

• Look out of the window and describe the sky with stem + そうです; then read a weather app and pass it on with 〜によると、〜そうです.
• Tell a friend one piece of news you read today with 〜らしいです.
• Write 世, 界, 海, 洋 and 有 on the worksheet and do the exercises.