Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 4: 11/18

らしい ①Seems like, Apparently, I heard

Structure

Verb + らしい
[い]Adjective + らしい
[な]Adjective + らしい
Noun + らしい

Details

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About らしい ①

The auxiliary verb らしい is very similar to the auxiliary verbs そうだ and ようだ, in that it expresses something that the speaker 'thinks' is true. This use is known as 推定(すいてい) (presumption) in Japanese. However, despite being a presumption/assumption, らしい usually sounds relatively confident.

らしい is regularly translated as 'it seems like (A)', or 'I heard that (A)'.

To use らしい, attach it to end of any (non-polite) verb, adjective, or noun.

In these examples, らしい indicates that the speaker has some reason to believe that (A) is true. This could be that they heard, saw, or read something, but are still not 100% sure whether their understanding is correct or not. In this way, it sounds very similar to 'it appears as though (A)' in English.

Caution

There are 2 main forms of らしい in Japanese. The auxiliary verb usage mentioned above, and the 形容詞(けいようし)一部(いちぶ) (auxiliary adjective), a type of adjective that must be attached to another word for it to have any meaning usage. らしい has the meaning of something that is 'typical of (A)', when used as an auxiliary adjective.

  • あなた本当(ほんとう)(おとこ)らしい
    You are really manly, aren't you. (You exhibit the typical qualities of a man)
  • やっと11(がつ)らしい天気(てんき)になっ
    The weather is finally becoming November-like, don't you think? (Weather that is typical of November)

This い-Adjective use of らしい will be covered more in our second らしい lesson.

Examples

--:--

    (かれ)ダイエット(つづ)らしいです

    He seems likely to continue his diet.

    (かれ)(あね)タイプじゃないらしい

    It appears that he is not my older sister's type.

    あなた元彼女(もとかのじょ)婚約(こんやく)したらしいです

    I heard that your ex-girlfriend got engaged.

    あの(ひと)会社(かいしゃ)社長(しゃちょう)らしい

    I heard that he is a president of a company.

    日本語(にほんご)(はな)なくて日本(にほん)()けるらしい

    I heard that you can go to Japan even if you cannot speak Japanese. (It seems like you can)

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      らしい ① – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (14 in total)

      • Pushindawood

        Pushindawood

        seems like
        (I) heard

        Structure

        • Verb + らしい
        • Noun + らしい
        • Adj + らしい
        • なAdj + らしい

        [Conjecture/hearsay・based on indirect information・some confidence]
        [Mostly auditory・“typically representative of” meaning only applies to nouns]

        View on Bunpro

      • Pep95

        Pep95

        What do the 1 and 2 mean here?

      • Pushindawood

        Pushindawood

        @Pep95 While らしい① and らしい② may look the same, they express two different things. らしい① focuses on conjecture/hearsay, while らしい② focuses on expressing that someone/something meets the standards of something or expresses the typical traits of something. Cheers!

      • seanblue

        seanblue

        あなたの元彼女が婚約したらしいです。

        Why is そう not a valid answer here?

      • ArsDiaboli

        ArsDiaboli

        Not sure but, probably because it’s only from rumor? If it was the (だ)そう, you’d probably say that you heard it according to X (友達によるとあなたの元彼女が結婚したそうだ), while if it was the other そう, wouldn’t it be wrong altogether since that one refers to things that you are physically seeing (雨が降りそう)? Because there’s no other indication of it being a (だ)そう, I assume らしい fits better.

        Do correct me if I’m wrong please

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        @seanblue @ArsDiaboli

        Hey

        Since there is no context, those two are interchangeable.

        The difference is basically like this:
        らしい is a conjectural expression, so it is some kind of guess based on what you heard
        そうだ is not conjectural, it is reporting what you have heard

        So, for example, when 彼は結婚したらしい is used, then it means that the speaker heard that the person in question was on honeymoon or something like that and this is his guess based on the information.
        If そうだ was used, that would mean that he has heard from someone that the person married.

        By the way, the less “guesswork” is used, the closer it is to そうだ。

        (Of course, I am talking about そうだ hearsay, just to be clear

      • Quemaqua

        Quemaqua

        I must confess, even with the nuance hints, I still can’t keep these straight. I suppose because I just don’t use them very often in conversation myself. I can comprehend the differences between them just fine, and I know the words themselves from seeing them used in native matierlas I read, but I just can’t ever seem to nail down which one I’m suppose to be using when trying to use them myself. If you guys ever find a really good way to differentiate these in one’s mind, I will be forever in your debt.

      • GregX999

        GregX999

        I just came here looking for clarification on this too - I keep mixing up らしい and そうだ and have no ideas, even after seeing the answer, why one is correct and the other isn’t.

        I just end up memorizing which one goes in which sample sentence, which isn’t helping me at all, as I’m “passing” the reviews without actually learning why.

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        @GregX999
        In most cases those two can be considered completely interchangeable, if there is no wider context.

      • warioblast

        warioblast

        魔王さまはしばらくマクロナルドで働いていたらしい。

        I heard that the Demon King worked at McRonald for some time.

        I don’t understand whats going on here ? What’s the reference ? Is it from an anime or a manga ?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        Hataraku Maou-sama! reference. Since the sentence sounds a bit strange, the らしい sticks in memory

      • warioblast

        warioblast

        Thanks !!

      • Glaciem52

        Glaciem52

        What’s らしい and * といた** as I heard ?

      • MikkaT

        MikkaT

        Hi, I’m wondering why らしい does not need any kind of だ like ようだ or そうだ.
        The よ in this example would have needed a だ after the noun as well if the らしい wasn’t there. So does らしい take the place of だ as well?

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @MikkaT !

        Since らしい could also be a auxiliary adjective, it sounds very unnatural when だ is used after it! It is similar to how using だ after い-adjectives sound unnatural.

        We hope this answers your question!

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