～そう
looks like or appears
～そう expresses a guess based on what you can see right now. It attaches to the stem of a verb or adjective: the ます-stem of a verb (降ります → 降り), or an い-adjective with the final い dropped (美味しい → 美味し).
In English it maps to “looks ...” or “looks like it will ...”. Do not confuse this with the hearsay pattern ～そうだ ("I hear that..." / "they say that..."), as in 雨が降るそうだ。("I hear it's going to rain.").
1. With adjectives: “looks ...”
Attached to an adjective stem, ～そう describes how something appears, before you have actually confirmed it.
このケーキは美味しそう。
“This cake looks delicious.”
- この = this
- ケーキ = cake
- は = topic marker
- 美味しそう（おいしそう）= looks delicious
You have not tasted the cake yet — you are judging by its appearance.
2. With verbs: “looks like it will happen”
Attached to a verb stem, ～そう means something appears to be on the verge of happening.
空が暗いです。雨が降りそうです。
“The sky is dark. It looks like it’s going to rain.”
- 空（そら）= sky
- が = subject marker
- 暗いです（くらいです）= is dark
- 雨（あめ）= rain
- 降りそうです（ふりそうです）= looks like it will fall
How to form it
Verb ます-stem + そう / い-adjective stem (drop い) + そう. The adjective いい is irregular: it becomes よさそう.
- 降る（ふる）= to fall (rain) → 降りそう（ふりそう）= looks like it will rain
- 美味しい（おいしい）= delicious → 美味しそう（おいしそう）= looks delicious
- いい = good → よさそう = looks good
Key idea
This use of ～そう means "judging by what I see". Do not confuse 雨が降りそうだ ("It looks like it's going to rain") with 雨が降るそうだ ("I hear it's going to rain").
Built on the same stem
Updated .