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I am translating the following sentence I found in my workbook.

> 美味しそう **な** 写真を見て、思わず[涎]{よだれ}が出た。

`美味しい` is an i-adjective, so why is there a `な`?
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2016-04-05T06:33:42.487
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question
adjectives i-adjectives auxiliaries
Why is there a な in this sentence?
This isn't simply 美味しい, but 美味しそう. The そう suffix means 'appears to be', and it
takes な.

> When I saw a photo of delicious-looking food, I couldn't help but drool.
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2016-04-05T06:52:23.290
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This そうな is the 連体形{れんたいけい} (attributive form) of verbal auxiliary そうだ, which
indicates mode.

美味{おい}し is the stem of 美味{おい}しい. The verbal auxiliary そうだ is placed after the
stem of an adjective.
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2016-04-05T07:27:42.890
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Oishii (i-adjective): The food actually tastes good.

Oishisou (with sou auxiliary verb): The food looks good.

Sou auxiliary verb expresses "seem" or "look" together with a verb,
i-adjective, or na-adjective.

(sou examples)  

> with verb:  
>  [雨]{あめ}が[降]{ふ}りそうだ (ame ga furisou da): Looks like it will rain.
>
> with i-adjective:  
>  これは[高]{たか}そうだ (kore wa takasou da): It looks expensive.
>
> with na-adjective:  
>  そこはにぎやかそうだ (soko wa nigiyaka sou da): That place looks lively.

And then putting na after sou makes a modifier to a noun.  
(examples)  

> [高]{たか}そうな[時計]{とけい} (takasou na tokei) expensive-looking watch  
>  おいしそうな[食]{た}べ[物]{もの} (oishisou na tabemono) delicious-looking food
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2016-04-05T10:56:43.247
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answer