Learning objectives
- Lesson goals: Learn the appearance sou da for visual judgment — "it looks like..." — distinct from hearsay sou da.
- Form and connection: [Verb masu-stem / i-adjective / な形] そうだ
- Nuance in real use: Appearance そうだ lets Japanese make judgments based purely on intuition and appearance — no logical reasoning needed, just "it looks like." This perception-based expression ties closely to Japanese culture's trust in intuition.
Form and connection
Core Explanation
Learn the appearance sou da for visual judgment — "it looks like..." — distinct from hearsay sou da.
Cultural Note
Practical examples
Common pitfalls
Build the base form before adding the pattern
Complete the required conjugation first. Do not keep polite and plain endings at the same time.
Match politeness to the situation
The examples are reliable starting points; relationships and context can still change the most natural wording.
Practice and answers
Show answer
[Verb masu-stem / i-adjective / な形] そうだShow answer
It looks like it's going to rain.Show answer
この本ほんは難むずかしそうだ。 ([Verb masu-stem / i-adjective / な形] そうだ)Continue learning
~Yotei Da: Scheduled To / Plan To
Learn yotei da for expressing scheduled plans and arrangements. This lesson combines form, context, examples, common mistakes, and practice so you can use the pattern in real communication.
Conditional と: Inevitable Result
Master the conditional と for natural consequences and the "upon doing, discovered" usage. This lesson combines form, context, examples, common mistakes, and practice so you can use the pattern in real communication.
Complete Guide to Plain Forms: Linking Ideas, Quotations, and Judgments
Learn the plain forms of nouns, adjectives, and verbs and use them to modify nouns, quote speech, express time and reasons, state plans, make judgments, and build indirect questions.