ようだ / みたいだ

ようだ / みたいだ Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Auxiliary な-Adjective

Essential Meaning: X appears / X seems / X looks as if / X is like

Construction: 

• (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + ようだ
  • E.g. 話はなすようだ [X seems to speak]
  • E.g. 食たべるようだ [X seems to eat]
  • E.g. 高たかいようだ [X seems to be expensive]

• な-Adjective Stem + [な / だった] + ようだ
  • E.g. 静しずかなようだ [X seems to be quiet]

• Noun + [の / だった] + ようだ
  • E.g. 先生せんせいのようだ [X seems to be a teacher]

Notes:

• ようだ translates to “X seems“, “X appears“, “X looks as if“, or “X is like“. It expresses the likelihood or likeness of something / someone or makes an inference about something / someone. The speaker’s assessment conveys a high level of confidence and is based on firsthand, reliable, information. (typically visual information)
  • E.g. 木村きむらさんは昨日きのうお酒さけを飲のんだようだ。[It seems that Mr. Kimura drank sake yesterday.] In this example, the speaker is making the inference that Mr. Kimura drank sake yesterday based on reasoning from perceptual evidence.
  • E.g. この問題もんだいは学生がくせいにはちょっと難むずかしいようだ。[This problem seems to be a little too difficult for the students.] In this example, the speaker is making the inference that the test is too difficult for the students based on reasoning from perceptual evidence.
  • E.g. この酒さけは水みずのようだ。[This sake is like water.] In this example, the speaker is expressing the likeness of the sake to water based on reasoning from perceptual information.
  • E.g. この本ほんは高たかいようだ。[This book seems to be expensive.] In this example, the speaker is expressing a high likelihood that the book is expensive based on an analysis of perceptual evidence.

• ようだ can be used counterfactually to express the idea of “It appears as if X is the case, when in fact X is not the case” or “X is like Y, even though X is not actually Y“.
  • E.g. この酒さけは水みずのようだ。[This beer is like water.]
  • E.g. 木村きむらさんはまるで酒さけを飲のんだようだ。[It totally seems as if Kimura-san drank alcohol (even though he didn’t).]
  • E.g. あの人ひとはまるで日本人にほんじんのようです。[That person totally appears to be Japanese (even though he isn’t).]

• ようだ is a な-Adjective, so it’s pre-nominal form is ような and its adverbial form is ように.
  • E.g. 今日きょう田中たなかさんのような人ひとを見みました。[Today I saw a person who looked like Tanaka-san.]
  • E.g. スミスさんは日本人にほんじんのように日本語にほんごを話はなします。[Mr. Smith speaks Japanese like a Japanese person.]

• The colloquial version of ようだ is みたいだ. The usages of みたいだ and ようだ are exactly the same. みたいだ is constructed as follows:
  • (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + みたいだ
    • E.g. 話はなすみたいだ [X seems to speak]
    • E.g. 食たべるみたいだ [X seems to eat]
    • E.g. 高たかいみたいだ [X seems to be expensive]
  • (な-Adjective Stem / Noun) + [X / だった] + みたいだ
    • E.g. 静しずかみたいだ [X seems to be quiet]
    • E.g. 先生せんせいみたいだ [X seems to be a teacher]

• だろう, らしい, and そうだ (Conjecture) each express conjecture similarly to ようだ. The differences are as follows:
  • (1) だろう expresses conjecture that is not necessarily based on any evidence or information. It may be a guess or a shot in the dark.
    • E.g. この本ほんは高たかいだろう。[I think this book is expensive (and my claim is not backed by reasoning or evidence).]
  • (2) らしい expresses conjecture based on what the speaker has heard or read (i.e. the conjecture is based on second-hand information)
    • E.g. この本ほんは高たかいらしい。[It seems (based on what I’ve heard) that this book is expensive.]
  • (3) そうだ (Conjecture) expresses conjecture about a current state or about what is going to happen based on what the speaker sees or feels. It expresses a fairly low level of certainty and can only be used with Verb ます-Forms or with adjective stems.
    • E.g. この本ほんは高たかそうだ。[This book looks expensive (based on my feelings, rather than on evidence or logic).]
  • (4) ようだ expresses conjecture based on what the speaker has seen or experienced. It involves reasoning based on reliable information, and thus conveys more certainty than そうだ (Conjecture). ようだ is the most certain of these four expressions.
    • E.g. この本ほんは高たかいようだ。[This book seems to be expensive (based on my reasoning based on perceptual evidence).]
  • To summarize:
    • だろう = pure conjecture
    • らしい = conjecture based on second-hand info (something heard or read)
    • そうだ (Conjecture) = conjecture based on what the speaker sees or feels
    • ようだ = conjecture based on reasoning or judgement of visual information

Example Sentences:

杉山すぎやまさんはアメリカへ行いくようだ。[It appears that Sugiyama-san will go to America.]

上田うえださんはボクシングが好すきなようだ。[It appears that Ueda-san likes boxing.]

あの人ひとは田中たなか先生せんせいのようだ。[That person looks like Tanaka-sensei.]

A: 石井いしいさんはもう帰かえりましたか。B: はい、そのようです。[A: Has Ishii-san gone home already? B: Yes, it appears that he has.]

木村きむらさんはまるで酒さけを飲のんだようだ。[It totally seems as if Kimura-san drank alcohol (even though he didn’t).]

ここは昔むかし学校がっこうだったようだ。[It appears that this place used to be a school.]

この酒さけは水みずのようだ。[This sake is like water.]

WILD Examples:

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