Grammar › Hearsay & Appearance
〜ようだ / 〜みたい — “seems, looks like” (inference)
A conclusion from what you can see or sense: 雨が降ったようだ — it looks like it rained
〜ようだ (formal/written) and its casual equivalent みたい state a conclusion drawn from direct evidence — a wet street, a sound, a half-remembered feeling — rather than pure guesswork. みたい attaches directly to nouns and na-adjectives with no な, unlike ような.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Plain form + ようだ | 道が濡れている → 雨が降ったようだ — it looks like it rained |
| Plain form + みたい (casual) | 彼、疲れてるみたい — he seems tired |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 道が濡れている。雨が降ったようだ。 | みちがぬれている。あめがふったようだ。 michiganureteiru。amegafuttayouda。 | The road is wet. It looks like it rained. |
| 隣の部屋、誰かいるみたい。 | となりのへや、だれかいるみたい。 tonarinoheya、darekairumitai。 | It seems like someone's in the next room. |
| 彼はこのことを知らないようだ。 | かれはこのことをしらないようだ。 karehakonokotowoshiranaiyouda。 | He doesn't seem to know about this. |
🔊 Tap any Japanese sentence to hear it; kanji link to their study pages.
Watch out
ような/みたいな before a noun (like 天使のような声, an angel-like voice) is the simile use, not this inference use — the two functions look almost identical and are told apart only by whether evidence or comparison is being expressed.