そうだ vs ようだ vs らしい

looks like; seems; appears to be

そうだ reports a speaker's impression of how something looks or seems from what can be observed at the moment. It attaches to the masu-stem of verbs, as in 起こりそう, and to the stem of adjectives after removing final い from i-adjectives and な from na-adjectives, as in おいしそう and 楽しそう. The そう part conjugates like a na-adjective, giving forms such as そうな before nouns and そうに before verbs. Note the irregular stems よさそう from よい and なさそう from negative ない.

1. よさそうな家いえだよ。

   It seems to be a good house.

2. おいしそうな料理ですね。

   It looks appetizing.

It appears that; resembling something

ようだ expresses conjecture based on observation, meaning it appears that, and comparison meaning like or as. It follows plain form verbs and i-adjectives, as in ないようだ or 高いようだ, while nouns take のようだ and na-adjectives take なようだ. Before a noun it becomes ような, and as an adverbial it becomes ように, with past tense ようだった and negative ようではない. It is neutral in style for speech and writing, and comparison use often pairs with particles like の or と.

1. 彼かれは先生せんせいに向むいてないように見みえる。

   He seems not to be cut out for teaching.

2. 日本のような国でさえ殺人事件は増えている。

   The number of murders is increasing even in a country like Japan.

It seems; apparently so

らしい expresses hearsay or inference, meaning it seems or apparently, when the speaker reports information learned from others or judges from indirect evidence. It follows the plain form of verbs and i-adjectives, as in できているらしい or おいしいらしい, and follows nouns and na-adjective stems directly in the present, as in 病気らしい or 知り合いらしい. For past meaning, use forms like できたらしい or だったらしい. It sounds slightly formal and keeps distance, so avoid it for stating your own direct experience or certain facts.

1. その犬いぬは病気びょうきだったらしい。

   The dog seems to have been sick.

2. おい、今度の新人かわいいらしいぜ。

   Hey, the new recruit this time seems really cute.