The short answer
All four can come out as “it seems” in English, so the English won’t help you choose. What matters is where your information comes from. Appearance そうだ is your read on what’s in front of your eyes (“looks like”, “about to”). Hearsay そうだ passes on something you were told, with no opinion of your own. ようだ and みたい are conclusions you draw from your own evidence; みたい is the casual spoken version of ようだ. らしい is a conclusion built on things you heard or read, so it keeps some distance from the claim.
The two そうだ are different grammar that happen to look the same. The attachment tells them apart: 降りそう (stem) means “looks like it will rain”, 降るそう (plain form) means “I hear it will rain”.
| そうだ (appearance) | そうだ (hearsay) | ようだ | みたい | らしい | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meaning | looks like; about to | I hear that | it seems (my judgment) | it seems (casual) | apparently (from what I’ve heard) |
| Source | what you see right now | a specific report | your own evidence | your own evidence | secondhand info, rumor |
| Attaches to | verb stem, adjective stem | plain form | plain form, noun + の, な-adj + な | plain form, noun / な-adj directly | plain form, noun / な-adj directly |
| Example | おいしそう looks tasty | おいしいそうだ I hear it’s tasty | おいしいようだ it seems tasty | おいしいみたい seems tasty | おいしいらしい apparently it’s tasty |
そうだ (appearance) in a nutshell
Appearance そうだ is your impression from looking at something. With adjectives it means “looks ___”. With verbs it means something is about to happen or likely to happen, judged from what you see.
Form: verb stem + そうだ (降りそう, 落ちそう), い-adjective minus い + そうだ (高そう), な-adjective stem + そうだ (元気そう). Two irregulars: いい becomes よさそう and ない becomes なさそう. It does not attach to nouns in the affirmative. It conjugates like a な-adjective: おいしそうなケーキ, 楽しそうに話す.
このケーキ、おいしそう！
This cake looks delicious!
空が暗い。今にも雨が降りそうだ。
The sky is dark. It looks like it's going to rain any minute.
シャツのボタンが取れそうですよ。
Your shirt button is about to come off.
One limit: you can’t use it for something that is plainly obvious. Looking at a beautiful view, you say きれいですね, not きれいそうですね. そう means you are guessing from the surface, so it only works when the real quality is hidden (taste, difficulty, mood, what will happen next).
そうだ (hearsay) in a nutshell
Hearsay そうだ reports information you got from somewhere else: the news, a friend, a sign. You add nothing of your own. The source often appears with によると or の話では.
Form: plain form + そうだ. Nouns and な-adjectives keep だ: 雨だそうだ, 静かだそうだ. Tense goes on the verb before そうだ, never on そうだ itself, and hearsay そうだ has no negative or past form.
天気予報によると、明日は雪が降るそうです。
According to the forecast, it's going to snow tomorrow.
山田さんは来月結婚するそうです。
I heard Yamada is getting married next month.
ようだ in a nutshell
ようだ is your own conclusion from evidence you observed: a sound, a smell, someone’s behavior, the state of a room. It sounds careful and a bit formal, which makes it the default in writing, business email, and announcements. It also works as a simile (“like”, “as if”), which the other patterns (except みたい) can’t do.
Form: plain form + ようだ, with noun + の (学生のようだ) and な-adjective + な (静かなようだ).
外は雨が降っているようです。傘を持っていきましょう。
It seems to be raining outside. Let's take umbrellas.
資料に誤りがあったようです。申し訳ありません。
It appears there was an error in the materials. We apologize.
まるで夢のようだ。
It's like a dream.
みたい in a nutshell
みたい does the same jobs as ようだ, inference and simile, in casual speech. If you’d say ようだ in an email, you’d say みたい to a friend.
Form: plain form + みたい, but nouns and な-adjectives attach directly, with no の, な, or だ: 学生みたい, 静かみたい. Add だ/です at the end as needed. It conjugates like a な-adjective: 子どもみたいな人, 夢みたいに.
ケンさん、今日休みみたい。席にかばんがないし。
Looks like Ken's off today. His bag isn't at his desk.
この部屋、誰もいないみたいだね。
Seems like nobody's in this room.
らしい in a nutshell
らしい is a conclusion based on information from outside: something you overheard, read online, or picked up as a rumor. Compared with hearsay そうだ, it’s vaguer about the source and says “that’s what I gather”, not “I was told exactly this”. Compared with ようだ, it signals that the evidence isn’t yours, so you’re not vouching for it.
Form: plain form + らしい, with nouns and な-adjectives attaching directly: 雨らしい, 静からしい. It conjugates like an い-adjective (らしかった, らしくない).
あの店、来月閉まるらしいよ。
Apparently that shop is closing next month.
新しい先生はかなり厳しいらしい。
From what I hear, the new teacher is pretty strict.
After a noun, らしい has a second meaning: “typical of”, “living up to”. 男らしい means “manly”, 春らしい天気 means “proper spring weather”. Context decides which one you’re hearing.
Side-by-side examples
The rain test. One event, four sources of information. This is the set to memorize.
雨が降りそうだ。
It looks like it's about to rain. (You're looking at dark clouds.)
雨が降るそうだ。
I hear it's going to rain. (The forecast said so.)
雨が降っているようだ。
It seems to be raining. (You hear drops on the window.)
雨が降っているらしい。
Apparently it's raining. (A coworker who just came in mentioned it.)
Looks tasty vs heard it’s tasty. Same adjective, different attachment, different meaning.
Your evidence vs someone else’s. Both translate as “seems”, but ようだ is your call and らしい is what you’ve gathered.
Note that 風邪そうです is impossible: appearance そう doesn’t attach to nouns.
Same inference, different register. ようだ and みたい carry the same meaning; the listener decides which one you use.
Simile: only ようだ and みたい. まるで夢のようだ and 夢みたい both mean “it’s like a dream”. 夢らしい would mean “apparently it was a dream”, and 夢そうだ isn’t Japanese.
Quick test: Ask "how do I know this?" Seeing it right now → そう after the stem. Someone told me, and I'm just passing it on → plain form + そうだ. I worked it out from clues → ようだ (formal) or みたい (casual). I picked it up from others and won't vouch for it → らしい.
How to choose
- Are you describing how something looks, or saying it’s about to happen? Use stem + そう. Check that the quality isn’t already obvious.
- Are you relaying a specific report, often with によると? Use plain form + そうだ, and keep your opinion out of it.
- Did you reach the conclusion yourself from clues? Use ようだ in writing or polite speech, みたい in conversation.
- Is the information secondhand, vague, or a rumor you don’t want to own? Use らしい.
- Is it a comparison (“like a dream”, “like a child”)? Only のようだ or みたい work.
- Is the word before it a noun? Appearance そう is out. Pick ようだ (with の), みたい, らしい (both direct), or hearsay だそうだ.
Common mistakes
Practice: choose the right one
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そう. Verb stem + そう: you're judging from the clouds that rain is about to start.
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そう. Plain form + そうです relays the news report. らしい is possible but vaguer; によると pairs most naturally with hearsay そうだ.
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よう. You're drawing a conclusion yourself, in a formal email, so ようです. みたい is too casual here.
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みたい (or のよう). Only these two make a comparison. 子どもらしい would mean "childlike" in the sense of "typical of a child", which praises children, not adults.
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らしい. Secondhand information you're not vouching for. Hearsay そうだ also works, but らしい fits the gossip tone of 聞いた話だけど.
Related grammar to review next
- そうだ: looks like; seems about to — the full lesson on appearance そう, including よさそう and なさそう
- そうだ: apparently; I hear that — the full lesson on hearsay そうだ and its sources
- ようだ: seems; appears to be — inference and simile in formal Japanese
- みたいだ: looks like; seems like — the casual counterpart to ようだ
- らしい: apparently; it seems — secondhand inference and the “typical of” meaning
- そうに / そうな: in a way that looks; seeming — using appearance そう before nouns and verbs
- っぽい: -ish; seems; tends to — the casual N3 cousin of みたい and らしい
- によると: according to — the phrase that usually introduces hearsay そうだ
FAQ about そうだ vs ようだ vs らしい vs みたい
What is the difference between そうだ and ようだ and らしい and みたい?
All four can come out as "it seems" in English, so the English won't help you choose. What matters is where your information comes from. Appearance そうだ is your read on what's in front of your eyes ("looks like", "about to"). Hearsay そうだ passes on something you were told, with no opinion of your own.
How do I choose between そうだ and ようだ and らしい and みたい?
Are you describing how something looks, or saying it's about to happen? Use stem + そう. Check that the quality isn't already obvious. Are you relaying a specific report, often with によると? Use plain form + そうだ, and keep your opinion out of it. Did you reach the conclusion yourself from clues? Use ようだ in writing or polite speech, みたい in conversation.