By ProDev Teach | Updated May 2025
📘 Meaning & Usage
そうです has two common uses at the N5 level:
- Visual appearance / impression: “It looks like…”
- Reported speech: “I heard that…” (more common in N4+)
Structure (Visual Guess):
- Verb stem + そうです
- い-adjective (remove い) + そうです
- な-adjective + そうです
💡 Example Sentences
- このケーキは おいしそうです。
This cake looks delicious. - あの人は かなしそうです。
That person looks sad. - 雨が ふりそうです。
It looks like it will rain. - 先生は いそがしそうです。
The teacher looks busy.
📝 Grammar Notes
- そうです expresses your impression based on visual clues.
- Be careful not to confuse with 〜そうです (hearsay), which means “I heard that…”
- Do not use it with negative forms or certain verbs (e.g. しにます → ×しにそうです = sounds weird)
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blanks with そうです
- このりんごは ________。
- たなかさんは ________。
- そらが くらい。あめが ________。
✔ Sample Answers:
- このりんごは おいしそうです。
- たなかさんは うれしそうです。
- あめが ふりそうです。
2. Translate into Japanese
- This food looks hot.
- The child looks sleepy.
- It looks like it will snow.
✔ Sample Answers:
- このたべものは あつそうです。
- こどもは ねむそうです。
- ゆきが ふりそうです。
📚 Vocabulary List
- おいしい – delicious
- かなしい – sad
- いそがしい – busy
- あめ（雨） – rain
- りんご – apple
- たのしい（楽しい） – fun
- ゆき（雪） – snow
- ねむい（眠い） – sleepy
🈷 Kanji List
- 雨（あめ） – rain
- 楽（たの） – fun
- 眠（ねむ） – sleep
- 雪（ゆき） – snow
🔗 Related Grammar
- 〜たいです – want to do
- 〜です – polite ending
- 〜そうに見える – looks/seems like (more advanced)
🧠 Summary
- Meaning: It looks like / seems like
- Usage: Expressing visual impressions using verb/adjective stem + そうです
- Level: JLPT N5
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I’m a software engineer based in Japan, with experience in developing web and mobile applications. I’m passionate about technology, especially in DevOps, AI, and app development using platforms like AWS, Flutter, and Node.js. My goal is to build a website that shares knowledge about the Japanese language and IT, helping everyone learn and grow more easily in the digital era.
