JLPT N3・N4 Grammar – “〜そうだ” and “〜らしい”

Table of Contents

1. Difference between “-Souda” and “-Rashii”
2. そうだ
3. らしい
4. Let’s Compare
5. Summary
6. Quiz
7. Similar Articles
8. Comment

Q: Are there any differences in grammar between “～そうだ” and “～らしい”?

A: Both are used by the speaker to convey information, but there are slight differences in meaning.

そうだ (JLPT N4)

[Rules]
[V] Verb plain form + そうだ
[A] い Adjective + そうだ
[Na] な Adjective + そうだ
[N] Noun plain form + そうだ

[Examples]　
[V] あした雨あめが降ふるそうです。
I heard it will rain tomorrow.

[A] 来週らいしゅうはあたたかいそうです。
It seems it will be warm next week.

[Na] ゆみさんは元気げんきだそうです。
I heard Yumi is well.

[N] トムさんは学生がくせいだそうです。
I heard Tom is a student.

らしい (JLPT N3)

[Rules]
[V] Verb plain form + らしい
[A] い Adjective + らしい
[Na] な Adjective + らしい
[N] Noun plain form + らしい

[Examples]　
[V] あした雨あめが降ふるらしいです。
I heard it will rain tomorrow.

[A] 来週らいしゅうはあたたかいらしいです。
It seems it will be warm next week.

[Na] ゆみさんは元気げんきらしいです。
I heard Yumi is well.

[N] トムさんは学生がくせいらしいです。
I heard Tom is a student.

Let’s Compare

1.Hearsay-1
When conveying something to someone, the speaker uses “そうだ” when the reliability or certainty of the obtained information is high, and “らしい” when it is low.

[Example 1]
木村きむらさんから聞きいたんですが、木村きむらさんは来月らいげつから東京とうきょうで働はたらくそうですよ。
I heard from Mr. Kimura that he will work in Tokyo from next month.
⇒Since the speaker heard directly from Mr. Kimura, the reliability of the information is high.

うわさで聞きいたんですが、木村きむらさんは来月らいげつから東京とうきょうで働はたらくらしいです。
I heard rumors that Mr. Kimura is likely to work in Tokyo from next month.
⇒Since it’s information from rumors rather than directly from Mr. Kimura, the reliability is low.

[Example 2]　
A：「吉田よしださん、来月らいげつ会社かいしゃを辞やめるらしいですね。」
B：「え、誰だれから聞きいたんですか？」
A：「んー誰だれだったかな。誰だれかが言いってましたよ。」
B：「わたしは部長ぶちょうから聞きいたんですが、辞やめるんじゃなくて休やすむそうですよ。」

A: “I heard Mr. Yoshida is leaving the company next month.”
B: “Huh, who did you hear that from?”
A: “Hmm, I can’t remember who it was. Someone mentioned it.”
B: “I heard it from the manager, but it seems like he’s not leaving; he’s just taking a break.”

⇒In this conversation, A forgets who he heard the information from, indicating low reliability, hence he uses “~らしい“.
However, B uses “~そうだ” as he heard it from the department head, indicating high reliability.

2.Hearsay-2　
When the speaker has a strong interest or concern regarding the information they’ve obtained, they are more likely to use “～そうだ” than “～らしい”.

[Examples]
①来月らいげつ、近ちかくの公園こうえんで大おおきなお祭まつりがあるそうだよ。楽たのしみだね。　
　Next month, there’s a big festival in the nearby park. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

②来月らいげつ、近ちかくの公園こうえんで大おおきなお祭まつりがあるらしいよ。
　Next month, there’s apparently a big festival at the nearby park.

In example ①, the speaker’s excitement for the festival is evident with “楽たのしみだね” (Looking forward to it, right?).
When the speaker has high interest or curiosity in the information, “~そうだ” is more appropriate.
Conversely, in example ②, the speaker objectively presents the information, indicating less interest compared to “そうです.”

3. Inference
“~そうだ” can also be used when expressing the state or appearance of something, or when making predictions or judgments. Hence, it can be used in such contexts as well.

[Example]
〇 （わたしは）次つぎのJLPTに受うかりそうです。
　　(I) seem likely to pass the next JLPT.

“~らしい” can be used not only for information obtained from somewhere but also when the speaker objectively observes a situation and makes an inference.
However, it cannot be used for subjective inferences, so caution is needed.

[Example]
〇 この店みせはいつも混こんでいるので人気にんきらしいです。。
　 This restaurant is always crowded, so it seems popular.
×（わたしは）次つぎのJLPTに受うかるらしいです。
　 (I) seem likely to pass the next JLPT.

Furthermore, similar to Comparisob 1, when the speaker’s inference accuracy is high, “~そうだ” is used; when it’s low, “~らしい” is preferred.

[Example]
母ははにメールを送おくったけど返事へんじが来こない。いつも忙いそがしいからまだメールに気きづいてなさそうだ。
I emailed my mom but haven’t received a reply. She seems not to have noticed it yet, probably because she’s always busy.
⇒This inference is based on the mother’s usual busyness, hence it’s more accurate.

母ははにメールを送おくったけど返事へんじが来こない。まだ気きづいていないらしい。
I emailed my mom but haven’t received a reply. She doesn’t seem to have noticed it yet.
⇒It suggests a low inference accuracy as there’s no specific reason for the inference.

Summary

1. The degree of reliability and certainty of the information obtained by the speaker.

When the reliability and certainty of information are high, use “~そうだ“; when they are low, use “~らしい“.

2. The degree of interest and concern of the speaker toward the obtained information.

When interest and concern towards the information are high, use “~そうだ“; when they are low, use “~らしい“.

3. The degree of accuracy in objectively inferred information by the speaker.

It can be used for objectively inferred speculation but not for subjective ones.
When the reliability and certainty of inferred speculation are high, use “~そうだ“; when they are low, use “~らしい“.

Quiz

Read the following sentence and choose the expression that fits the context from the options provided in the parentheses.

Click on the question to check the answer.

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