そうだ vs ようだ vs らしい: How to Say 'It Seems' and 'I Heard' in Japanese

Japanese has several ways to say that something seems true or that you heard it from someone else. Three of the most common are そうだ, ようだ, and らしい. They look similar in a grammar list, and learners often treat them as interchangeable. They are not. Each one tells the listener something different about how you know what you are saying.

This kind of pattern shows up from N4 and becomes more important at N3, so it is worth building a clear mental picture now.

The key question: how do you know?

Before choosing a pattern, ask yourself where your information comes from.

• Looking at it right now and judging by appearance → そうだ (appearance)
• Your own senses or reasoning pointing to a conclusion → ようだ
• Information you got from somewhere else → そうだ (hearsay) or らしい

そうだ has two completely different uses

The same ending does two jobs, and the form before it tells you which one you have.

1. Appearance: stem + そうだ

Take the verb stem (the ます-form without ます), or the い-adjective without い, or the な-adjective without だ, and add そうだ. It means "looks like it will..." or "looks...".

• 雨が降りそうだ。 — It looks like it is going to rain.
• このケーキはおいしそうですね。 — This cake looks delicious.
• 彼は元気そうだ。 — He looks well.

Two irregular patterns are worth memorizing:

• いい becomes よさそう (good-looking, promising), not いそう.
• ない becomes なさそう (doesn't seem to exist or be).

For a negative appearance with a verb, use ～なさそう or ～そうにない: 雨は降りそうにない。 (It doesn't look like it will rain.)

2. Hearsay: plain form + そうだ

Here you attach そうだ to a plain-form sentence. It means "I heard that...". It simply passes along information.

• 明日は雨が降るそうだ。 — I heard it will rain tomorrow.
• 田中さんは来月、日本を出るそうです。 — I hear Mr. Tanaka is leaving Japan next month.

Compare the two directly:

• 雨が降りそうだ。 (the sky looks dark, so you judge it)
• 雨が降るそうだ。 (the forecast said so)

The only difference on the page is 降り versus 降る, which is exactly why this pair appears so often in grammar questions. If you want a reminder of how verb stems and plain forms work, see our guide on ichidan and godan verbs.

ようだ: your own judgment from evidence

ようだ (and the more casual みたいだ) expresses a conclusion based on what you have personally seen, heard, smelled, or inferred. You are not quoting anyone. You are reasoning.

• 誰かいるようだ。 — It seems like someone is there. (You hear a noise.)
• 風邪をひいたようだ。 — I seem to have caught a cold.
• 彼は疲れているようだ。 — He seems tired.

The pattern attaches to the plain form. For な-adjectives and nouns, use な and の:

• 静かなようだ — it seems quiet
• 学生のようだ — he seems to be a student

ようだ is also used for comparison: 夢のようだ ("it is like a dream"). Keep this in mind, because the same pattern can mean "seems" or "is like", and context decides.

みたいだ carries the same meaning in casual speech: 誰かいるみたい。 It attaches to nouns and な-adjectives directly, without な or の.

らしい: hearsay with a trace of inference

らしい also attaches to the plain form. It can mean "I hear that..." like hearsay そうだ, but it usually feels less certain and more like "apparently" or "from what I gather".

• 田中さんは結婚するらしい。 — Apparently Mr. Tanaka is getting married.
• この店は人気があるらしい。 — This shop seems to be popular (judging from the line outside, or from what people say).

The difference from hearsay そうだ is subtle but real:

• そうだ reports a source directly, as if you were relaying it. It feels firm.
• らしい is softer. You may have pieced the information together, and you are not vouching for it.

There is a second, unrelated use. After a noun, らしい can mean "typical of" or "worthy of the name":

• 男らしい人 — a manly person
• 学生らしい服 — clothes appropriate for a student

When you see らしい right after a noun with a positive "that is just like them" feel, it is this second meaning.

Quick comparison

Common mistakes

Using stem + そうだ for hearsay. 雨が降りそうだ says you are looking at the sky. It does not report a forecast.

Using hearsay そうだ with a first-hand observation. If you are staring at a delicious-looking cake, say おいしそう, not おいしいそうだ, which would mean "I heard it is tasty".

Forgetting なさそう and よさそう. These two irregular forms are favorites for test writers.

Mixing up な and の before ようだ. Use な after a な-adjective and の after a noun: 静かなようだ, 学生のようだ.

How to practice

Read short passages and underline every ending that signals "seems" or "heard". For each one, ask: was this a judgment, or a report? That habit also helps with unfamiliar sentences; the same attention to endings is useful when you guess unknown words in reading passages.

Then write your own pairs. For each pattern, make one sentence about the weather, one about a friend, and one about food. Say them aloud until the choice feels natural. When you are ready to see where this fits among other forms, our overview of JLPT grammar patterns is a good map, and a related set of contrasts is in the post on conditionals.

For the official description of each level's scope, always check the JLPT site at https://www.jlpt.jp/e/, and for a full path through the levels, see the JLPT preparation guide.

Practice it with JLPT Ready

Grammar like this sticks best when you see it in many sentences. In JLPT Ready's Learn section, grammar items come with plain-language explanations and, where relevant, links to practice questions that test them. Practice mode explains every answer, so you can see why one ending fits and another does not. You can start with N5 for free, no card required.

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