kyou wa isogashii. sore ni, ame mo furisou da.

topic particle

Breakdown of kyou wa isogashii. sore ni, ame mo furisou da.

• 今きょ日う: today
• 雨あめ: rain
• 忙いそがしい: busy
• だ: to be
• 降ふる: to fall
• も: also
• 〜そう: seems; looks
• それ に: besides

Questions & Answers about kyou wa isogashii. sore ni, ame mo furisou da.

Who is busy in the sentence 今日は忙しい?

• Japanese often omits the subject when it’s obvious. Here, it most naturally means “I’m busy today.”
• Depending on context, it could also mean “we” (my team/shop) are busy, but default is the speaker.
• A literal “today is busy” is possible, but usually implies “my schedule today is packed.”

Why is は used after 今日, and what changes if I drop it or use が?

• 今日は忙しい: は marks the topic. “As for today, (I’m) busy.” It lightly contrasts today with other days.
• 今日忙しい (no は): Colloquial and fine. Just states the time frame without contrastive nuance.
• 今日が忙しい: Emphasizes “today” as the one that’s busy (e.g., in answer to “Which day is busy?”). It’s more specific/contrastive.

What does それに mean, and how is it different from そして or それでも?

• それに: “In addition; besides.” Adds another factor, often piling on reasons/problems.
• そして: Neutral “and/and then,” used to list or sequence facts. Less of a “piling on” feeling.
• それでも: “Nevertheless; even so,” introduces a contrast that goes against the previous statement.
• In this sentence, それに signals “on top of being busy, there’s also the issue of rain.”

Why is も used after 雨 instead of が or は?

• も = “also/even.” It connects to the prior idea: “I’m busy. Also, it looks like rain.”
• 雨が降りそうだ simply states the weather likelihood without the additive link.
• 雨は降りそうだ would topicalize rain, possibly contrasting with something else (e.g., wind).

Why is there だ in 降りそうだ but not after 忙しい?

• 忙しい is an i-adjective and can stand alone as a predicate: 忙しい (plain), 忙しいです (polite). Adding だ after i-adjectives is incorrect.
• 〜そうだ (appearance “seems/looks like”) behaves like a na-adjective at the end of a sentence, so in plain style you add the copula だ: 降りそうだ; in polite style: 降りそうです.

How is 降りそうだ formed, and what nuance does this 〜そうだ have?

• Form: verb ます-stem
  • そうだ. 降る → 降り
    • そうだ = 降りそうだ.
• Nuance: appearance-based conjecture—“It looks/seems like (it will rain), based on what I can observe (dark clouds, smell of rain, etc.).”

What’s the difference between 降りそうだ and 降るそうだ?

• 降りそうだ: appearance-based “looks like it will rain.”
• 降るそうだ: hearsay “I heard/they say it will rain” (from a forecast, someone else, etc.).
• They use the same そうだ in writing but differ in structure: appearance = stem + そう, hearsay = plain form + そうだ.

How do I make the negative or past forms with this 〜そうだ?

• Negative (unlikely to happen):
  • 降りそうにない (won’t likely rain)
  • 降らなさそうだ (seems like it won’t rain)
• Past (it looked like it was going to rain):
  • 降りそうだった
  • Polite: 降りそうでした

Is it okay to say the whole sentence in polite style?

Yes. For example:

• 今日は忙しいです。それに、雨も降りそうです。

Can I drop だ and say 雨も降りそう?

• In casual speech, many people do drop the final だ after 〜そう, so 降りそう is common in conversation.
• In writing or neutral/plain style, 降りそうだ is safer.

Are the spaces in the Japanese sentence normal?

• No. Standard Japanese writing does not use spaces between words.
• Textbooks sometimes add spaces to help learners see word boundaries.

How do you pronounce the sentence?

• きょうは いそがしい。 それに、 あめも ふりそうだ。
• Without learner-friendly spacing: きょうはいそがしい。それに、あめもふりそうだ。

Could I connect the ideas differently, like with し?

Yes. Common alternatives:

• 今日は忙しいし、雨も降りそうだ。 (…and also…, listing reasons)
• 今日は忙しい上に、雨も降りそうだ。 (on top of that…, a bit more formal/emphatic)

Does それに already mean “also,” so is 雨も redundant?

• They’re not redundant; they reinforce each other in a natural way.
• それに links the sentences; も marks the noun 雨 as an additional item. Together they create a stronger “piling on” feel: “I’m busy. And on top of that, even rain.”