English pours four different ideas into one leaky bucket. "This cake looks delicious," "she seems tired," "it appears to have rained," "apparently he quit" — all "look / seem / appear / apparently," all interchangeable-ish in English. Japanese refuses to blur them. It sorts your guess by two questions: where did your information come from, and how formal are you being. Get those two right and the correct form falls out automatically. This page is the map. Each form has its own detailed page — 〜そう, 〜ようだ, 〜みたいだ, 〜らしい — but the choice between them is what trips up every English speaker, and that is what we solve here.
The one question that decides it
Before you translate "seems," ask yourself where your evidence lives:
- Am I reacting to what I directly perceive right now? → 〜そう (appearance). Your own eyes, ears, tongue.
- Am I reasoning from evidence to a conclusion? → 〜ようだ (formal) or 〜みたいだ (casual). Your own inference.
- Am I repeating what I was told, or stating what's reliably typical? → 〜らしい (or the pure quote/report form 〜そうだ hearsay).
That is the entire system. English wording ("looks" vs "seems" vs "apparently") is a false friend; evidence source is the real switch.
〜そう — reacting to direct perception
Appearance 〜そう is your instant, eyewitness impression: you look at something and judge it on the spot. It attaches to the adjective stem (drop 〜い) or the verb ます-stem, and it works only for what you can perceive now — a look, a taste-at-a-glance, a motion about to happen. It cannot report a past event or an abstract fact you didn't witness.
このケーキ、すごくおいしそう！
kono kēki, sugoku oishisō!
This cake looks so delicious! (I can see it — direct perception)
空を見て。今にも雨が降りそうだよ。
sora o mite. ima ni mo ame ga furisō da yo
Look at the sky — it looks like it's about to rain any minute.
彼、なんだか元気なさそうだね。
kare, nandaka genki nasasō da ne
He looks kind of down, doesn't he. (from his appearance)
The full mechanics — dropping the い, the irregulars よさそう / なさそう, and the crucial clash with hearsay 〜そうだ — are on the 〜そう: looks like page.
〜ようだ / 〜みたいだ — reasoning from your own evidence
When you don't perceive the fact directly but deduce it from clues you have gathered, use ようだ (formal, written) or its casual twin みたいだ (spoken). The road is wet, so it seems to have rained; his light is on, so he seems to be home. This is inference — you assemble evidence and draw a conclusion you take responsibility for.
- ようだ attaches to the plain form; after a noun it takes の (子供のようだ) and after a な-adjective it takes な (静かなようだ). Register: (formal) / written / careful speech.
- みたいだ means the same but is (informal): it attaches directly to the plain form or bare noun (子供みたい, 静かみたい) with no の or な. Register: everyday conversation.
道路が濡れている。夜のうちに雨が降ったようだ。
dōro ga nurete iru. yoru no uchi ni ame ga futta yō da
The road's wet. It seems it rained during the night. (I inferred it — formal)
顔が赤いね。熱があるみたい。
kao ga akai ne. netsu ga aru mitai
Your face is red. Seems like you've got a fever. (I inferred it — casual)
電気が消えている。もう寝てしまったようだ。
denki ga kiete iru. mō nete shimatta yō da
The lights are off. It seems he's already gone to sleep.
The choice between ようだ and みたいだ is purely register — same evidence, same meaning, different formality. Details on the 〜ようだ and 〜みたいだ pages.
〜らしい — passing on a secondhand report
When your basis is outside you — someone told you, the news said, a notice indicates — use 〜らしい. You are relaying, not deducing, and らしい carries a slight detachment: this is what I heard, don't hold me to it. It attaches to the plain form or a bare noun (drop だ). It also does double duty as "typical of" (男らしい), covered on its own page.
田中さん、熱があるらしいよ。今日は休むって。
Tanaka-san, netsu ga aru rashii yo. kyō wa yasumu tte
I hear Tanaka has a fever — apparently he's off today.
天気予報によると、明日は雨らしい。
tenki yohō ni yoru to, ashita wa ame rashii
According to the forecast, it's supposed to rain tomorrow.
There is a fifth form in this space, the pure hearsay 〜そうだ ("I hear that…"), which reports a source even more directly than らしい — it is a plain relay with no inference at all. 雨が降るそうだ = "the forecast says it'll rain." It attaches to the plain form (keep the 〜い), which is precisely what makes it collide with appearance 〜そう. See 〜そうだ: hearsay.
ニュースによると、その俳優は結婚したそうだ。
nyūsu ni yoru to, sono haiyū wa kekkon shita sō da
According to the news, that actor got married. (pure report)
The same thought, four ways: the rain test
Nothing makes the system click like watching one fact shift form as your evidence changes. Imagine you are wondering about rain:
（黒い雲を見て）雨が降りそう。
(kuroi kumo o mite) ame ga furisō
(seeing dark clouds) It looks about to rain. — I perceive it directly → そう
（人が傘をさしているのを見て）雨が降っているようだ。
(hito ga kasa o sashite iru no o mite) ame ga futte iru yō da
(seeing people with umbrellas) It seems to be raining. — I reason from evidence → よう
（同じことをくだけて）雨、降ってるみたい。
(onaji koto o kudakete) ame, futteru mitai
(the same, casually) Seems like it's raining. — my inference, casual → みたい
（天気予報を聞いて）明日は雨が降るらしい。
(tenki yohō o kiite) ashita wa ame ga furu rashii
(having heard the forecast) Apparently it'll rain tomorrow. — secondhand → らしい
Same rain, four evidence sources, four forms. Notice that appearance 〜そう could not replace the others: you cannot "see" that it rained last night or that the forecast said something. That is why some facts — a past event, an abstract report — never take appearance そう at all; they force you into よう / みたい / らしい.
The decision grid
| Form | Evidence source | Register | Attaches to | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 〜そう (appearance) | your own direct perception, right now | neutral–casual | adj stem / verb ます-stem | おいしそう |
| 〜ようだ | your own reasoning from evidence | formal / written | plain form (＋の／な) | 降っているようだ |
| 〜みたいだ | your own reasoning from evidence | casual / spoken | plain form / bare noun | 降ってるみたい |
| 〜らしい | secondhand report / reliably typical | neutral | plain form / bare noun | 休みらしい |
| 〜そうだ (hearsay) | an explicit report you relay | neutral | plain form (keep 〜い) | 降るそうだ |
Common Mistakes
1. Defaulting to one form for every "seems." Learners pick a favourite (usually みたい or らしい) and use it for perception, inference, and hearsay alike. Choose by source each time.
❌ （目の前のケーキを見て）このケーキ、おいしいらしい。
(me no mae no kēki o mite) kono kēki, oishii rashii
Wrong for something in front of you — らしい means you heard it; use おいしそう.
✅ このケーキ、おいしそう。
kono kēki, oishisō
This cake looks delicious.
2. Mixing appearance-そう and hearsay-そうだ. Keeping the 〜い flips "looks" into "I hear."
❌ （見た目の話で）このケーキ、おいしいそう。
(mitame no hanashi de) kono kēki, oishii sō
With the い kept, this is hearsay ('I hear it's tasty'), not 'looks tasty.'
✅ このケーキ、おいしそう。
kono kēki, oishisō
This cake looks tasty.
3. Using appearance そう for a fact you didn't witness. A past event or a report can't be "perceived"; use よう / みたい / らしい.
❌ 彼は昨日ここに来たそう。（自分の推測のつもり）
kare wa kinō koko ni kita sō (jibun no suisoku no tsumori)
For 'it seems he came,' this reads as hearsay; for inference use 来たようだ／みたい.
✅ 彼は昨日ここに来たようだ。
kare wa kinō koko ni kita yō da
It seems he came here yesterday. (I infer, e.g. from a clue)
4. Forgetting の / な before ようだ. After a noun use の; after a な-adjective use な.
❌ 彼はまだ学生だようだ。
kare wa mada gakusei da yō da
Wrong — noun + ようだ takes の: 学生のようだ.
✅ 彼はまだ学生のようだ。／学生みたいだ。
kare wa mada gakusei no yō da / gakusei mitai da
He seems to still be a student. (formal / casual)
5. Using らしい for your own firsthand reasoning. らしい needs an external source; for your own deduction use ようだ / みたい.
❌ （濡れた道を見て）雨が降ったらしい。
(nureta michi o mite) ame ga futta rashii
Odd — you deduced it yourself from the wet road, so use 降ったようだ／みたい, not hearsay-flavoured らしい.
✅ （濡れた道を見て）雨が降ったようだ。
(nureta michi o mite) ame ga futta yō da
(seeing the wet road) It seems it rained.
Key Takeaways
- Choose by evidence source, not by the English word: perceive → そう, reason → よう / みたい, relay → らしい / そうだ (hearsay).
- そう (appearance) = instant direct perception, from the stem; can't report unwitnessed facts.
- ようだ (formal) / みたいだ (casual) = your own inference from evidence — same meaning, different register.
- らしい = secondhand-but-reliable report (also "typical of"); そうだ (hearsay) = a plain relay of an explicit source.
- Watch the そう trap: appearance そう rides the stem, hearsay そうだ rides the plain form.
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- 〜そう: Appearance ('looks like')N3 — The evidential そう that attaches to a bare stem (降りそう, 高そう, 元気そう) for a direct sensory impression, its irregulars よさそう/なさそう, and the dropped い that tells it apart from hearsay.
- 〜ようだ: Seeming and LikenessN3 — The reasoned 'seems / appears' that a speaker concludes from evidence, plus its second job as 'like' (simile), with the noun-connector の and the modifying forms ような / ように.
- 〜みたいだ: Casual 'Seems / Like'N3 — The conversational twin of ようだ — 'seems / looks like / is like' — that attaches directly with no の or な, plus the てみたい look-alike to watch for.
- 〜らしい: Inference and TypicalityN3 — How 〜らしい unifies two meanings English keeps apart — the evidential 'apparently / it seems' from reliable secondhand information, and 'typical of / -like' (男らしい, 春らしい) — under the single idea of conforming to the expected picture of X.
- 〜そうだ: Hearsay ('I hear that')N3 — The reported-information そうだ that attaches to a full plain clause (降るそうだ, 高いそうだ, 学生だそうだ) to mean 'I hear / they say,' kept distinct from the looks-like そう by what precedes it.