そうだ details
write + looks like
kaki sou da
looks like; about to; seems (from appearance)
meaning: look like it will write
このケーキ、すごくおいしそう！
kono keeki, sugoku oishisou!
This cake looks so good! casual
棚の上の箱が落ちそうだ。
tana no ue no hako ga ochi sou da.
The box on the shelf looks like it will fall. neutral
- contraction
- past
- polite
Examples
looks like; about to — a judgment read directly off appearances
このケーキ、すごくおいしそう！
kono keeki, sugoku oishisou!
This cake looks so good! casual
棚の上の箱が落ちそうだ。
tana no ue no hako ga ochisouda.
The box on the shelf looks like it will fall. neutral
午後から雨が降りそうですから、傘をお持ちください。
gogo kara ame ga furisoudesu kara, kasa o o mochi kudasai.
It looks like it will rain this afternoon, so please take an umbrella. formal
Formation
{V-masu-stem}そうだattaches to ます-stemi-adj stem + そうだattaches to i-adjectivena-adj + そうだattaches to na-adjective
Variant notes
- そう — だ drops freely in exclamations — おいしそう！
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
Both judge from evidence, but 降りそうだ reads imminent potential off how things look ("about to"), while ようだ concludes a present state of affairs (どうやら雨のようだ) — そう predicts, ようだ diagnoses.
Both license the third-person feeling talk bare 怖い forbids — 怖がっている reports observed behavior over time, 怖そうだ reads the state off a momentary appearance; がる works only on a closed set of emotion words, そう attaches to nearly any adjective.
Lookalikes
Identical そうだ tail, one mora apart on verbs — plain form 降るそうだ relays what someone said ("I hear"), masu-stem 降りそうだ reads the sky ("looks like"); the attachment alone flips the information source.