Grammar › Hearsay & Appearance
らしい — “seems to be, apparently”
A judgment based on outside evidence — what you've seen, heard, or read suggests it
らしい attaches to plain forms (dropping な for na-adjectives, often dropping だ for nouns) to express a conclusion drawn from outside evidence — something you saw, heard, or pieced together, not your own direct experience. It sits between そうだ (pure hearsay) and ようだ (a conclusion that can include your own senses too) — らしい leans on other people's information.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Plain form + らしい | 明日は晴れるらしいです — It seems it'll be sunny tomorrow |
| Noun (no だ) + らしい | 隣の人は医者らしい — The neighbor seems to be a doctor |
| “Typical of” meaning | 彼らしい行動だ — That's just like him |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 新しいカフェができたらしいです。 | あたらしいかふぇができたらしいです。 atarashiikafuegadekitarashiidesu。 | It seems a new café has opened. |
| 田中さんは来月結婚するらしいですよ。 | たなかさんはらいげつけっこんするらしいですよ。 tanakasanharaigetsukekkonsururashiidesuyo。 | I hear Tanaka is getting married next month. |
| このドラマは本当の話らしい。 | このどらまはほんとうのはなしらしい。 konodoramahahontounohanashirashii。 | Apparently this drama is based on a true story. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
らしい also means “typical/fitting” stuck straight onto a noun (子供らしい — childlike, あなたらしい — so like you) — a completely different sense from the hearsay use, so check whether the sentence is guessing or judging character.
