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Grammar detail: 〜そうです
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adjective
+ そうです
or verb stem
+ そうです
means seems like (something)
.One very common example is おいしそうです, meaning 'looks tasty', which is almost a set phrase for example when seeing food prepared by a host.
For い adjectives, the い is dropped before the そうです.
- たかそうです (that) seems expensive
な adjectives are used as is:
- しんせつそうです (he/she) seems kind
For verbs, the stem is used:
- かれはおきそうです he looks like he's about to wake up
This construction is not to be confused with the standalone expression 「そうです。」or 「そうですね。」which indicates agreement / confirmation.
A very similar construction is used to express 'hearsay' - 'I heard that ~'. In this case, the form is:
verb plain form
or verb plain past
+ そうです
- かれはつかれているそうです He seems tired
- あめがふったそうです They say it rained
When used with adjectives, a な adjective is followed by だ, and an い adjective keeps its い:
- しんせつだそうです I heard he/she's kind
- たかいそうです I heard that's expensive
You may occasionally see だ after an い adjective, but this is to convey additional nuance, and would be incorrect as a form of the そうです construction itself. (For example, 嬉しいだそうよ might be a response to a question such as お父さんは気に入ってくれた？, in which case it would mean that the speaker is reporting that the the speaker thinks the father said '嬉しいだ', not that the speaker heard that the subject is 嬉しい.)
Kanji used in this grammar
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