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The other day I posted a picture of some food on Facebook, and I noticed that
all of my Japanese friends were saying 「おいしそう」. I made a good guess to what it
meant, but I wasn't certain what exactly they were saying. I've seen this
stem+そう with other i-adjectives too, such as 楽しそう, but none of this is covered
in any of my Japanese books.

What exactly is this? Is it slang? Can it be used with na-adjectives or nouns
too? If so how? Thanks! :)
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2011-06-09T03:25:07.407
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2011-06-09T05:57:10.830
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conjugations adjectives
What exactly does an adjective stem + そう mean?
It seems ...

For instance

  * おいしそう = it seems delicious
  * 行けそう = it seems I will be able to go

It is not slang, it is grammatically correct.

Detailed explanation: <http://www.guidetojapanese.org/similar.html#part4>
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2011-06-09T03:28:09.427
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2011-06-09T03:28:09.427
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answer
[See [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/607/what-is-
the-difference-between-plain-form-of-verb-and-root-of-verb), which deals with
the same pattern when used with verbs. I'll adapt my answer from that question
to answer yours.]

-そう after the stem of a adjective means "looking/sounding as if ___." おいしそう means "it looks as if it will be delicious." It is similar to constructions like おいしいみたい or おいしいよう, but -そう emphasizes evidence of the senses rather than general "seeming."

Contrast it with おいしいそう, which means "it is said to be delicious."

You can use -そう with verbs, adjectives, and some na-adjectives, but not with
nouns. Here are some na-adjective examples:

  * 駄目そう (looks like it's no good)
  * 丈夫そう (sturdy-looking)
  * 元気そう (peppy-looking)
  * 大変そう (Sounds rough!)

You can also use the -そう phrase itself as a na-adjective:

  * おいしそうなケーキ (a delicious-looking cake)
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2011-06-09T05:57:10.830
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2011-06-09T05:57:10.830
2017-04-13T12:43:44.260
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