1387
How do these two differ, for example:

寂しそう vs 寂しげ

楽しそう vs 楽しげ

言いたそう vs 言いたげ

大人げ vs 大人っぽい（...？ Not sure if this one works.)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-21T09:43:38.067
1386
2015-10-19T00:03:00.863
2015-10-19T00:03:00.863
108
question
grammar suffixes
What is the usage of 〜げ and how does it differ from 〜そう or 〜っぽい?
They are the same ("seems like") but 〜げ has more of a connotation of 「それらしい」
or 「っぽい」with the げ coming from the character 気 as in 気分. I remember it as
"that sort of feeling".

Arguably this makes 〜げ more subjective whereas 〜そう is more objective but only
so far as the observation is shared with others in the same/similar view point
as the speaker.

**A word about usage:-** You commonly use 〜げ when expressing your feelings. It
comes from the kanji 気, so this serves as a reminder. It matters "what" you
are talking about, not just that an adjective comes before it.

**Examples revised:-**

So observing the rule about expressing your feelings.

> 1A. **寂しそうな** 顔をしている = OK (with a lonely face)  
>  1B. **寂しげな** 顔をしている = OK
>
> 2A. **楽しそうな** 雰囲気 = OK (seemingly enjoyable atmosphere)  
>  2B. **楽しげな** 雰囲気 = OK
>
> 3A. 言いたそう = OK (with a desire to say ...)  
>  3B. 言いたげ = OK (NB: this is common, but not widely used with other verbs)
>
> 4A. 大人っぽい = OK  
>  4B. 大人げ = (corrected: this is ok as in 大人がある or 大人げない or

Alternatively these can be followed by に, as in 言いたげに見ている (looking with an
expression of wanting to say something).

**Origins:-** Apparently this word has been around for sometime in certain
parts of Japan (Ref: [http://otasuke.goo-
net.com/qa5447963.html?order=DESC&by=datetime](http://otasuke.goo-
net.com/qa5447963.html?order=DESC&by=datetime) > Answer 2), but some consider
it to be 若者言葉 that is making the transition to accepted vocabulary (Ref:
<http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%A5%E8%80%85%E8%A8%80%E8%91%890> \+ own
experience)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-21T10:18:12.000
1387
2012-12-09T09:21:19.273
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
168
1386
answer
Well, basically ADJ-I's radical + げ means some sort of "with adj-as-a-noun";
it turns your adjective into a noun, expresses appearance. To make myself
clear, let's see a few examples taken from the net:

> 六本木でちょっと変わった楽しげな居酒屋  
>  A bar in Roppongi with a somehow different enjoyable atmosphere
>
> レッドカーペット出演芸人が寂しげに嘆く  
>  the artists walking the red carpet sigh with a sad look.

Even though I've never encountered it, I infer that "言いたげ" means "with the
apparent wish to say" (since the base was "言いたい", "I want to say"). In both
cases, this is clearly something that you are observing. I think that you will
mostly encounter げ+に or げ+な.

そう, on the other hand, is trickier. It's either your impression, or something
you've heard.

> 明日は雨が降るそうです。  
>  Tomorrow, it will rain (according to the weather forecast I heard)
>
> 明日は雨が降りそうです。  
>  Tomorrow, it looks like it is going to rain (that's my feeling, I might be
> wrong).
>
> かれは嬉しそうです。  
>  He seems happy, he's happy.
>
> かれは嬉しいそうです。  
>  I heard he's happy.

Similarly,

> かれはXXXを言いたそうです。  
>  I think he's trying to say something. (nota: I don't think it's natural, I
> have almost never heard this kind of sentence).
>
> かれはXXXを言いたいそうです。  
>  I heard he wants to say something.

For the last one, I'd say it doesn't work, since you're working with a noun.
And appearance or hearsays with nouns is another topic…
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-06-21T10:24:04.460
1388
2012-12-09T09:24:01.767
2012-12-09T09:24:01.767
796
356
1386
answer