GrammarJLPT N5
→ it seems
It Seems / It Looks Like (Appearance-Based Conjecture)
JLPT N5Auxiliary verbNeutral
そうだ is an auxiliary used to express a conjecture based on the speaker's direct observation or visual impression of something. It conveys the meaning of "it looks like," "it seems like," or "it appears to be" and is formed by attaching そうだ to the masu-stem of verbs or the stem of adjectives (removing the final い from い-adjectives and な from な-adjectives). This is distinct from the hearsay そうだ, which attaches to the plain form of a sentence and means "I heard that." The appearance-based そうだ is used when you look at something and make a judgment about its state or what is about to happen — for example, seeing dark clouds and saying it looks like it will rain, or seeing a dish and saying it looks delicious. Compared to ようだ and みたいだ, which express inference based on broader evidence or reasoning, そうだ is more immediate and impression-based, often describing how something appears on the surface. Note the special negative forms: いい becomes よさそうだ, and ない becomes なさそうだ.
Functions
#1 Appearance or impression of a state
Structure
い-Adj (stem) / な-Adj (stem) + そうだ
このケーキはおいしそうだ。
Here そうだ is attached to the stem of the い-adjective おいしい (with い removed) to express the speaker's impression based on looking at the cake. The speaker has not tasted it yet but judges from its appearance that it seems delicious. This is the most common use of appearance-based そうだ — describing how something looks or feels based on direct observation.This cake looks delicious.
Structures
- Verb
- Verb (masu-stem) + そうだ
- い-Adjective
- い-Adjective (remove い) + そうだ
- な-Adjective
- な-Adjective (stem only) + そうだ
Common mistakes
The most frequent error is confusing appearance-based そうだ (masu-stem / adjective stem + そうだ) with hearsay そうだ (plain form + そうだ). For example, おいしそうだ means "it looks delicious" while おいしいそうだ means "I heard it's delicious" — the difference in attachment point changes the meaning entirely. Another common mistake is forgetting the irregular forms: いい becomes よさそうだ (not いさそうだ or いいそうだ), and ない becomes なさそうだ (not ないそうだ). Learners also sometimes try to use そうだ with nouns directly (e.g., 学生そうだ), which is incorrect; for nouns, patterns like みたいだ or ようだ should be used instead. Finally, some learners forget that そうだ itself conjugates as a な-adjective when modifying nouns (そうな + noun) or used adverbially (そうに + verb).
Related
そうだ (I heard that)ようだみたいだらしいっぽい