～ようだ
seems / appears (conjecture)
～ようだ expresses a conjecture: a guess the speaker makes from what they can see, hear, or otherwise sense. It follows a plain-form clause and corresponds to English “it seems ...” or “it looks like ...”.
The polite form is ようです. After a noun it becomes のようだ, and after a な-adjective, なようだ.
1. A guess based on evidence
Use ～ようだ when some clue makes you think something is true, even though you are not completely sure.
彼はもう帰ったようだ。
“It seems he has already gone home.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- もう = already
- 帰った（かえった）= went home
- ようだ = it seems
Perhaps his desk is empty and the lights are off. The speaker did not see him leave, but the evidence points that way.
外は雨が降っているようです。
“It looks like it is raining outside.”
- 外（そと）= outside
- は = topic marker
- 雨（あめ）= rain
- が = subject marker
- 降っている（ふっている）= is falling / is raining
- ようです = it seems (polite)
2. Saying one thing is like another
With Noun + のようだ, the same pattern makes a comparison: “is like ...”.
この町は絵のようだ。
“This town is like a picture.”
- この = this
- 町（まち）= town
- は = topic marker
- 絵（え）= picture, painting
- のようだ = is like
How to form it
Plain form + ようだ (noun + のようだ, な-adjective + なようだ)
- 帰る（かえる）= to go home → 帰ったようだ（かえったようだ）= seems to have gone home
- 忙しい（いそがしい）= busy → 忙しいようだ（いそがしいようだ）= seems busy
- 学生（がくせい）= student → 学生のようだ（がくせいのようだ）= seems to be a student
Key idea
～ようだ means “from what I can tell, it seems ...”. The speaker has sensed some evidence and is drawing a careful, subjective conclusion from it.
Built on the same stem
Updated .