Learn Hardcore Japanese: asita no kaigi ha tyuusi ni naru rasii. - It seems that tomorrow’s meeting will be canceled.

明日の会議 literally means “the meeting of tomorrow”, i.e. “tomorrow’s meeting.”
This の is like the English ’s or “of”, but it’s also the normal way to make a noun modify another noun in Japanese (like an adjective).

You could also talk about tomorrow as a time topic with は (e.g. 明日は会議が…), but 明日の会議 focuses on “the specific meeting that is scheduled for tomorrow.”

What is the role of は in 会議は中止に…?

は marks the topic of the sentence: what you’re talking about.

明日の会議は … = “As for tomorrow’s meeting, …”
It doesn’t necessarily mean “subject” in the strict grammatical sense; it tells the listener, “this is the thing I’m going to talk about now.”

If you said 明日の会議が中止になるらしい, が would mark “tomorrow’s meeting” as the grammatical subject and carries a bit more sense of “this is new information.”
With は, it feels more like “about that meeting we both know about: it’s going to be canceled, apparently.”

Why is it 中止になる and not just 中止なる or 中止だ?

With nouns and なる, you almost always need に:

Noun + に + なる = “to become / turn into [noun].”
- 中止になる = “to become a cancellation” → “to be canceled”

So 中止なる is ungrammatical; に is required.

中止だ means “(it) is canceled” (a simple state).
中止になる means “(it) becomes canceled / will be canceled” (a change into that state).

In this sentence, we’re talking about a meeting that will end up being canceled, so 中止になる is the natural choice.

What exactly is に doing after 中止?

Here, に marks the resulting state or target of change:

X が Y になる = “X becomes Y.”
- 会議が中止になる = “The meeting becomes canceled.”

This is a very common pattern:

子どもが 大人になる – The child becomes an adult.
雨が 雪になる – The rain becomes snow.

So 中止に is not “to cancellation” in a physical sense; it’s “into the state of being canceled.”

What does らしい mean here?

In this sentence, らしい expresses apparently / it seems / I heard that based on indirect information (rumor, something you were told, something you read, etc.).

Structure:

Plain form of a verb/adjective/sentence + らしい
- 中止になるらしい = “It seems it will be canceled” / “I hear it will be canceled.”

Key nuance:

You are not stating a confirmed fact.
You’re reporting something that sounds true based on information you have, but you’re not 100% asserting it as your own verified judgment.

How is らしい different from そうだ and みたいだ?

They’re all often translated as “seems / apparently”, but:

1. 〜らしい (in this usage)

Hearsay + your own sense that it’s probably true.
Often: “I heard that …; it seems that …”
明日の会議は中止になるらしい。
→ “I hear tomorrow’s meeting will be canceled (and it seems that’s the case).”

2. 〜そうだ (hearsay use)

When attached to a clause: [sentence] + そうだ = “I hear that … / They say that …”
Slightly more neutral report, less personal judgment than らしい.
明日の会議は中止になるそうだ。
→ “They say tomorrow’s meeting will be canceled.”

3. 〜みたいだ / っぽい

Very colloquial, often based on impressions or appearance.
明日の会議は中止になるみたい。
→ “It looks like tomorrow’s meeting will be canceled.” (very spoken, casual)

All can overlap in use, but らしい is a nice middle ground for everyday speech: not too formal, not too slangy, with a “from what I’ve heard / gathered” feeling.

Is this sentence polite or casual? Can I say らしいです?

As written (…中止になるらしい。), the sentence is in plain (casual) form:

なる is plain
らしい is plain
No です / ます

Among friends and equals, this is perfectly natural.

To make it more polite, you can add です after らしい:

明日の会議は中止になるらしいです。
→ Polite, suitable for most everyday situations at work, etc.

Note that you don’t change なる to なります here; with らしい, the internal verb normally stays in plain form:

(X) になるらしいです – not なりますらしいです.

Why is the verb なる in the non-past form? How does that give “will be canceled”?

Japanese non-past (dictionary form) なる covers both:

Present/habitual: “become(s)”
Future: “will become”

In sentences about a future event that is scheduled or expected, Japanese often just uses the non-past:

明日雨が降る。 – It will rain tomorrow.
来週テストがある。 – There will be a test next week.
明日の会議は中止になる。 – Tomorrow’s meeting will be canceled.

So 中止になるらしい naturally gets interpreted as “will be canceled, apparently” because the time adverb 明日 points to the future.

Can I say 明日の会議が中止になるらしい instead of 明日の会議は…? What’s the difference?

Yes, 明日の会議が中止になるらしい is also grammatically correct.

Nuance:

会議は: marks tomorrow’s meeting as the topic – “As for tomorrow’s meeting, apparently it will be canceled.”
- Sounds like you’re continuing a known topic: “You know that meeting? Apparently it’ll be canceled.”
会議が: marks it more as the subject / focus – “It’s tomorrow’s meeting that will be canceled, apparently.”
- Can feel a bit more like introducing this as new information.

In many contexts, both will be understood almost the same, but Japanese speakers do feel a small difference in focus between は and が.