見張みはりの男おとこは眠ねむそうだ。
The lookout looks sleepy.

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Read the explanation below to understand the nuance of how this grammar structure is used.

This ain’t the 「そうだ」 you use when you’re repeating gossip you heard on the street. Nah, this is the one you use when you’re eyeballing a situation yourself. It’s for when something looks a certain way, or seems like it’s about to happen. It’s your “vibe check” grammar.

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Look, ～そう is all about your first impression based on what you see. It’s your gut feeling from a visual.

You’re looking at something or someone and making a quick judgment. You see clouds rollin’ in, dark as hell? It looks like it’s gonna rain (雨あめが降ふりそうだ). You see a dude sweatin’ bullets while the feds are asking questions? He looks nervous (緊張きんちょうしてそうだ).

It’s not about facts. It’s not about what you know. It’s about what shit looks like on the surface. You’re sizing up the scene, straight up.

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You use this all the time. Imagine your boy walks in after a brawl, his face all busted up. You’d say, 「痛いたそう！」 – “That looks painful!” You don’t know if it hurts, maybe he’s built different, but damn, it looks like it does.

Or you see the new guy in the crew, lookin’ all shaky before his first big job. You turn to your partner and say, 「あいつ、ビビってそうだ」 – “He looks scared.” It’s what you see right now.

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Think of ～そう as the “vibe check” grammar.

When you roll up to a club, you check the vibe, right? You look at the bouncer. He’s got his arms crossed, mean-muggin’ everybody. You don’t know he’s a hard-ass, but he damn sure looks like one.

That bouncer is 「厳きびしそう」 – he looks strict. ～そう is that instant read you get just by lookin’. It’s the trailer, not the whole movie.

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Read the table below then use it to conjugate some words you know.

Here’s the breakdown on how to build this thing.

Type	How to Change	Example	Translation
I-Adjective	Drop the final い (i)	忙いそがしい -> 忙いそがしそう	Looks busy
Na-Adjective	Drop the な (na)	大変たいへん  -> 大変たいへんそう	Seems tough
Verb (V-Stem)	Use the masu-stem (drop ます)	倒たおれます -> 倒たおれそう	Looks like they’ll fall
Exception: いい	new form	いい -> よさそう	Looks good
Exception: ない	new form	ない -> なさそう	Doesn’t seem to be

It’s pretty simple. For I-adjectives, you just chop off that last “i” and slap ～そう on it. 辛からい (karai – spicy/tough) becomes 辛からそう. For Na-adjectives, just add ～そう to the root. 心配 (worry) becomes 心配しんぱいそう. For verbs, you use that stem form, the one you use for ～ます. 始はじまる becomes 始はじまりそう – “looks like it’s gonna start.”

Pay attention to the exceptions, though. You can’t say 「いそう」 for “looks good.” That’s wack. You gotta use the OG form, 良よい, and flip it to よさそう. And for the negative “doesn’t look like,” you take ない and make it なさそう. Like 「金かねなさそう」- “He looks broke.”

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Listen to and repeat the sentences below.

そのカバン、めちゃくちゃ重おもそうだ。
That bag looks heavy as hell.

この強盗ごうとう計画けいかく、面白おもしろそうだ。
This heist plan looks interesting (fun).

彼かれはそのネックレスを欲ほしそうだ。
He looks like he wants that necklace.

撃うたれた仲間なかまはもう死しにそうだ。
Our buddy who got shot looks like he’s gonna die.

あのシャバ僧そう、金かねなさそうだ。
That civilian punk looks broke.

抗争こうそうがもうすぐ始はじまりそうだ。
It looks like the turf war is about to start.

このブツはよさそうだ。
This merchandise looks good.

ボスの新あたらしいスーツ、高たかそうだ。
The boss’s new suit looks expensive.

刑務所けいむしょの飯めしは、本当ほんとうにまずそうだ。
Prison food looks real nasty.

このナイフ、めっちゃ切きれそうだ。
This knife looks crazy sharp.

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Stay solid.