Drop the い from i-adjectives, or keep the na-adjective or verb stem as it is. Add そう to say something looks, seems, or is about to happen, based on what you see rather than what you were told.
This guide is for N5-N4 learners who keep mixing up two different そうです forms. After reading, you will pick the right one just by checking where your information comes from.
Quick summary: Use adjective or verb stem + そう for what you see with your own eyes, and plain form + そうです for what someone told you.
| Word Type | Base Form → そう Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| i-adjective (regular) | drop final い, add そう | おいしい → おいしそう |
| i-adjective exception: いい | いい → よさそう | このカフェ、よさそうです |
| i-adjective exception: ない | ない → なさそう | 時間がなさそうです |
| na-adjective | stem + そう (no change) | 元気 → 元気そう |
| verb (ます-stem) | ます-stem + そう | 降ります → 降りそう |
Why そうです Isn’t the そうです You Already Learned
Two unrelated grammar points share the same ending
Two different grammar points both end in そうです. One reports what someone told you, using the plain form of a word plus そう. The other describes what you see with your own eyes, using an adjective or verb stem plus そう.
Most English speakers meet the “I heard” そう first in class. So they keep reaching for it, even when they are only describing a look, not repeating news from someone else.
English tacks “looks” onto a separate word in front of the adjective, as in “that looks delicious.” Japanese fuses the same idea onto the adjective itself, trimming its ending and gluing そう straight on, the way “true” drops its final e before “-ly” attaches to make “truly.”
That comparison stops working for na-adjectives and verbs. Nothing gets trimmed there. そう simply lands on the stem unchanged, with no “shrinking” step like English has.
The One-Look Test: Are You Seeing It or Being Told About It?
One question to pick the right そう
Am I forming this impression from something I’m sensing or seeing right now, rather than repeating what someone told me?
Picture dark clouds outside your window. You did not read a forecast, you just looked up.
Your answer is “I’m looking at it,” so you need the stem form. That gives you 雨が降りそうです, not the hearsay pattern.
Describing What You See: Adjectives + そう
At a clinic, a receptionist often reads a patient’s face before they say a word. That visual read is exactly what stem + そう is built for.
Notice that both examples below come from looking, not from a chart or a report someone handed over.
Japanese: 顔色が悪そうですね。
Romaji: Kaoiro ga warusou desu ne.
English: You look pale.
Why: 悪い drops its い before そう, showing a judgment made from looking at the patient’s face right now.
Japanese: 痛そうですね、大丈夫ですか。
Romaji: Itasou desu ne, daijoubu desu ka.
English: You look like you’re in pain, are you okay?
Why: 痛い becomes 痛そう, describing a visible reaction rather than something the patient reported.
Describing What’s About to Happen: Verbs + そう
Stem + そう also works with verbs, for things that look about to happen. This is handy when you politely decline an invitation based on what you can see.
In both examples below, the speaker is reading a visual clue, then using it as a soft reason to say no.
Japanese: 雨が降りそうなので、今日はやめておきます。
Romaji: Ame ga furisou nanode, kyou wa yamete okimasu.
English: It looks like it’s going to rain, so I’ll skip today.
Why: ます-stem 降り + そう shows a near-future event judged from the sky, not from a weather report.
Japanese: あのレストラン、よさそうですね。でも今日はちょっと難しいです。
Romaji: Ano resutoran, yosasou desu ne. Demo kyou wa chotto muzukashii desu.
English: That restaurant looks good, but today is a bit hard for me.
Why: いい becomes the exception よさそう, used here to soften a polite refusal.
What Happens If You Swap the Two Forms
Swap the forms, and the sentence stops sounding wrong grammatically. It just points to the wrong source of information.
Plain form + そうです tells your listener “someone said this to me.” Stem + そう tells them “I can see or sense this myself.”
（ケーキを見て）このケーキ、おいしいそうです。
このケーキ、おいしそうです。
English speakers treat そう like a suffix stuck onto the whole word, similar to adding “-ish” in English. So they keep the full い ending instead of dropping it first.
Common Mistake: （暗い雲を見て）雨だそうです。 → 雨が降りそうです。 Learners meet the hearsay そうです first, so they default to it even when the information comes from their own eyes, not from someone else. Use stem + そう for what you see yourself, and save plain-form + そうです for what someone told you.
FAQ About そうです for Appearances
Can I use this そうです about my own feelings, like being tired?
Generally no. For what you already feel, just say it plainly: 疲れました (“I’m tired”). 疲れそうです means something different — “I’m about to get tired” or “that’s going to be tiring” — because it’s a prediction about what’s coming, not a report on how you feel now.
What if I use adjective + そうです for something I only heard about?
Answer: It will sound confusing, because stem + そう claims a direct look or feeling. For secondhand news, switch to the plain form of the word plus そうです instead.
Does this そうです change in the past tense?
Yes, そうです becomes そうでした. おいしそうでした means “it looked delicious,” describing a past visual impression.
Quick Quiz: Test Your そうです Skills
Fill in each blank with the correct そう form, based on the hint word in parentheses.
- このラーメン、＿＿＿そうです。（おいしい）
- 空が暗いです。＿＿＿そうです。（雨が降る）
- あの子、＿＿＿そうです。（元気）
1. おいし – Drop the final い from おいしい before adding そう.
2. 雨が降り – Use the ます-stem 降り of 降ります, based on the dark sky you see.
3. 元気 – Na-adjectives attach そう to the stem with no change at all.
Summary
- Stem + そう describes what you see, sense, or judge from a look right now.
- Plain form + そうです reports what someone else told you, not your own impression.
- i-adjectives drop their final い, na-adjectives and verb stems stay unchanged.
- いい and ない have their own irregular forms: よさそう and なさそう.
Once this stem + そう pattern feels natural, you are ready to explore how it connects to みたい and らしい for describing impressions in even more ways.
