Meaning & usage
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.
Example sentences 8
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よさそうな家だよ。
It seems to be a good house.
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おいしそうな料理ですね。
It looks appetizing.
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ロイはガールフレンドから電話があるとうれしそうだ。
Roy looks happy when his girlfriend calls him.
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もうすぐ何かが起こりそうな気がする。
I've got a feeling that something is about to happen.
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子どもたちはつまらなさそうだったよ。
The children looked bored.
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それはありそうにないな。
It's unlikely.
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その少年はおぼれそうになった。
The boy was almost drowned.
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ひとみはとても楽しそうにみえた。
Hitomi looked very happy.
In past JLPT papers
This came up in 7 past exam questions.
And 3 more tests.
