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Auxiliary Adjective (な)
An auxiliary な type adjective which expresses the likelihood of something/someone or the likeness of something/someone to something/someone. | Look like; look as if; be like; appear; seem |
【Related Expression: だろう; らしい; そうだ1; そうだ2】 |
(ksa). 杉山さんはアメリカへ行くようだ・ようです。
It appears that Mr. Sugiyama is going to America.
(ksb). 上田さんはボクシングが好きなようだ・ようです。
Mr. Ueda appears to like boxing.
(ksc). あの人は田中先生のようだ・ようです。
That person looks like Professor Tanaka.
(ksd). A:石井さんはもう帰りましたか。 B:はい、そのようです。
A: Has Mr. Ishii gone home already? B: Yes, it looks like it.
(i){V/Adjective い} informal | ようだ | |
{話す /話した}ようだ | It seems that someone (will) talk/talked | |
{高い /高かった}ようだ | It seems that something is/was expensive | |
(ii)Adjective な stem | {なだった}ようだ | |
{静かな/静かだった}ようだ | It seems that something is/was quiet | |
(iii)Noun | {のだった}ようだ | |
{先生の/先生だった}ようだ | It seems that someone is/was a teacher | |
(iv)Demonstrative | ようだ | |
そのようだ | It seems so |
(a). 木村さんは昨日お酒を飲んだようだ。
It seems that Mr. Kimura drank sake yesterday.
(b). この問題は学生にはちょっと難しいようだ。
This problem seems to be a little difficult for the students.
(c). ここは昔学校だったようだ。
It seems that this place used to be a school.
(d). この酒は水のようだ。
This sake is like water.
1. ようだ expresses the likelihood of something/someone, or the likeness of something/someone to something/someone. In either case, when the speaker uses ようだ, his statement is based on firsthand, reliable information (usually visual information).
2. ようだ can be used in counter-factual situations, as in Ex. (d). In this case, the adverb まるで 'just' can be used for emphasis.
3. ようだ is a な type adjective and has the prenominal form ような and the adverbial form ように. (⇨ ように2) Examples:
4. The colloquial version of ようだ is みたいだ, which is also a な type adjective. The uses of みたいだ are exactly the same as those for ようだ. The formation rules are as follows:
【Related Expressions】
The conjecture expressions Sentenceだろう, Sentenceらしい and Sentenceそうだ2 convey ideas similar to Sentenceようだ. The differences are as follows:
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
The following examples demonstrate the differences among these four expressions. The sentences in [1] present examples with the adjective 高い 'expensive' before the conjecture auxiliaries.
[1]
Here, [1a] is mere conjecture, [1b] expresses the speaker's conjecture based on what he has heard and/or read. (If the sentence involves little conjecture, it is almost like hearsay. (⇨ そうだ1)) [1c] is also the speaker's guess, but in this case it is based on what he sees. [1d] expresses the speaker's judgment about the price of the book. Note that in [1d] the speaker knows the book's price; therefore, this is not a guess. [2] provides examples with the noun 先生 'teacher' preceding the conjecture words. The differences in meaning among the sentences here are the same as those explained in [1], except that [2c] is ungrammatical.
[2]
In [3], the verb 降る 'fall' precedes the conjecture auxiliaries.
[3]
Here, [3a] is the speaker's guess. [3b] is the speaker's conjecture based on what he heard or it is almost like hearsay. [3c] is also the speaker's guess, but, in this case, he is probably looking at the sky. Like [3c], [3d] is based on what the speaker sees, but in this case the information is reliable, and involves the speaker's reasoning process.
The diagram in [4] summarizes the characteristics of the four conjecture expressions and そうだ1 (hearsay).
[4]
information→ |
[耳],[本]→ |
そうだ1 (hearsay) |
→report | |
information→ |
[目]→ |
conjecture→ |
そうだ2 |
→report |
information→ |
[耳],[本]→ |
conjecture→ |
らしい |
→report |
information→ |
reasoning/judgment→ |
conjecture→
|
ようだ
|
→report |
information→ |
?→ |
conjecture→ |
だろう |
→report |