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**Context:** A talks about B to C. A met B while out and about. B approached A
and talked about a painting they where looking at.

After describing B as a rather nervous/reserved person, A says to C:

> 話しかけて来そうじゃないのよ。

Which I would understand as "It didn't seem like he came to talk." But he was
the one who actively approached (he could have avoided the other person
easily) and they talk for a bit afterwards. So, in this context this seems
rather strange.

**Question:** _Is there a different use for "~そうじゃない"_?

Thank you for any pointers! :)
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2017-01-04T09:50:18.800
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question
grammar translation meaning
meaning of ~そうじゃない
Judging from the context I think you have interpreted the sentence almost
correctly. The sentence probably means （普段は）話しかけて来そうな人じゃないのよ, or "He is
(usually) not a person who is likely to come to talk with me/others," although
B actually came to speak to A in that day, which surprised A. Note that the
present tense is used in this sentence. Maybe he was interested in the
painting or A.

Next time it would be helpful to give us a longer excerpt in Japanese, so that
I can remove "probably" from my answer.

* * *

Depending on the intonation, 話しかけて来そうじゃないのよ can mean something like "He seems
to be about to come and talk with us, doesn't he?" but I don't think it's the
case.

  * おいしそうじゃないのよ！ ≒ おいしそうじゃないんだ！  
(Because) It doesn't seem delicious!  
(のよ≒んだ≒のだ, so-called "explanatory の")

  * おいしそうじゃないのよ！ (uncommon) ≒ おいしそうじゃないか！  
It looks delicious, doesn't it?
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answer