What is 〜そう (sou) for Hearsay?
〜そう (hearsay) is used to report information you heard from someone else. It means "I heard that" or "apparently" and indicates you're not the original source of the information.
雨が降るそうです
"I heard it will rain"
彼は来ないそうだ
"I heard he won't come"
Formation
With Verbs (Plain Form)
Add そう to the plain form (present or past):
降る → 降るそう
"I heard it will rain"
降った → 降ったそう
"I heard it rained"
降らない → 降らないそう
"I heard it won't rain"
With I-adjectives
Add そう to the plain form:
高い → 高いそう
"I heard it's expensive"
高くない → 高くないそう
"I heard it's not expensive"
高かった → 高かったそう
"I heard it was expensive"
With Na-adjectives
Add そう after だ/だった:
便利 → 便利だそう
"I heard it's convenient"
便利じゃない → 便利じゃないそう
"I heard it's not convenient"
便利だった → 便利だったそう
"I heard it was convenient"
With Nouns
Add そう after だ/だった:
学生 → 学生だそう
"I heard (he/she) is a student"
休み → 休みだそう
"I heard it's a holiday"
雨 → 雨だそう
"I heard it's rain"
Core Meaning
Reporting Information
You're passing on information you received from another source:
明日は雨だそうです
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy"
彼は来ないそうだ
"I heard he won't come"
おいしいそうですよ
"I heard it's delicious"
Comparison: Observation vs Hearsay そう
Observation そう (looks like)
Based on what you SEE:
雨が降りそう
"Looks like it will rain" (I see dark clouds)
おいしそう
"Looks delicious" (I see the food)
Hearsay そう (I heard)
Based on what you HEARD:
雨が降るそう
"I heard it will rain" (someone told me)
おいしいそう
"I heard it's delicious" (someone said so)
Key Formation Differences
Observation: Stem + そう
Verb: 降ります → 降りそう
I-adj: おいしい → おいしそう
Na-adj: 便利 → 便利そう
Hearsay: Plain form + そう
Verb: 降る → 降るそう
I-adj: おいしい → おいしいそう
Na-adj: 便利だ → 便利だそう
Noun: 雨だ → 雨だそう
Common Patterns
〜そうです (polite hearsay)
明日は雨だそうです
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy"
彼は学生だそうです
"I heard he's a student"
おいしいそうです
"I heard it's delicious"
〜そうだ (casual hearsay)
明日は雨だそうだ
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy"
彼は来ないそうだ
"I heard he won't come"
〜によると〜そうだ (according to)
Specifying the source:
天気予報によると、明日は雨だそうです
"According to the weather forecast, I heard it will rain tomorrow"
彼によると、会議は中止だそうだ
"According to him, I heard the meeting is cancelled"
Tense in Hearsay
The tense reflects the tense in the original statement:
Present Information
明日は雨だそう
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy"
彼は忙しいそう
"I heard he's busy"
Past Information
昨日は雨だったそう
"I heard it rained yesterday"
彼は忙しかったそう
"I heard he was busy"
Negative Forms
Verb Negatives
来ないそう
"I heard (he) won't come"
行かなかったそう
"I heard (he) didn't go"
Adjective Negatives
おいしくないそう
"I heard it's not delicious"
便利じゃないそう
"I heard it's not convenient"
Common Conversations
Example 1: Weather
A: 明日の天気はどう？
"How's tomorrow's weather?"
B: 雨が降るそうだよ
"I heard it will rain"
A: 本当？傘を持って行こう
"Really? Let's bring umbrellas"
Example 2: News
A: 田中さん、聞いた？
"Did you hear about Tanaka?"
B: 何？
"What?"
A: 結婚するそうだよ
"I heard he's getting married"
B: えー！本当に？
"What! Really?"
Example 3: Restaurant
A: このレストラン、どう？
"How about this restaurant?"
B: おいしいそうだよ。友達が言ってた
"I heard it's delicious. My friend said so"
A: じゃあ、行ってみよう
"Then let's try going"
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Confusing with observation そう
Based on hearsay: おいしいそう ✓
"I heard it's delicious"
Based on appearance: おいしそう ✓
"Looks delicious"
Mistake 2: Wrong formation with na-adjectives
Wrong: 便利そう (for hearsay) ❌
Right: 便利だそう ✓
"I heard it's convenient"
Note: 便利そう ✓ means "looks convenient" (observation)
Mistake 3: Using with だ incorrectly
Wrong: 学生そう ❌
Right: 学生だそう ✓
"I heard (he's) a student"
Indicating Source
With によると
ニュースによると、地震があったそうです
"According to the news, I heard there was an earthquake"
先生によると、テストは来週だそうだ
"According to the teacher, I heard the test is next week"
With って/と言っていた
田中さんが言っていたけど、明日は休みだそうだ
"Tanaka said that I heard tomorrow is a day off"
友達って、そのレストランはおいしいそうだよ
"My friend said that restaurant is delicious"
Politeness Levels
Casual
雨が降るそうだ
"I heard it will rain"
おいしいそうだよ
"I heard it's delicious"
Polite
雨が降るそうです
"I heard it will rain"
おいしいそうですよ
"I heard it's delicious"
Special Expressions
〜そうだが/〜そうですが (I heard, but...)
彼は来るそうだが、遅れるらしい
"I heard he'll come, but apparently he'll be late"
おいしいそうですが、高いです
"I heard it's delicious, but it's expensive"
〜そうで (and I heard)
Connecting hearsay information:
明日は雨だそうで、会議は中止だそうです
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy, and I heard the meeting is cancelled"
With Question Forms
Reporting Questions
彼は来るそうですか？
"Did you hear if he's coming?"
おいしいそうですか？
"Did you hear if it's delicious?"
Distinguishing Context
Observation Context
このケーキ、おいしそう！
"This cake looks delicious!" (I see it)
雨が降りそうだね
"Looks like it will rain" (I see clouds)
Hearsay Context
あのケーキ、おいしいそうだよ
"I heard that cake is delicious" (someone said)
明日は雨が降るそうだね
"I heard it will rain tomorrow" (weather forecast)
Common Reporting Situations
News and Information
ニュースで、事故があったそうです
"On the news, I heard there was an accident"
新しい店ができたそうだ
"I heard a new store opened"
Personal Information
彼は結婚したそうです
"I heard he got married"
田中さんは引っ越したそうだ
"I heard Tanaka moved"
Plans and Events
明日はパーティーだそうです
"I heard tomorrow is a party"
会議は中止だそうだ
"I heard the meeting is cancelled"
Practice Sentences
Basic Hearsay
明日は雨だそうです
"I heard tomorrow will be rainy"
彼は来ないそうだ
"I heard he won't come"
そのレストランはおいしいそうです
"I heard that restaurant is delicious"
新しい映画は面白いそうだ
"I heard the new movie is interesting"
With Past Tense
昨日は暑かったそうです
"I heard it was hot yesterday"
彼は忙しかったそうだ
"I heard he was busy"
パーティーは楽しかったそうです
"I heard the party was fun"
Negative
彼は来ないそうです
"I heard he won't come"
おいしくないそうだ
"I heard it's not delicious"
便利じゃないそうです
"I heard it's not convenient"
With Source
天気予報によると、雨が降るそうです
"According to the weather forecast, I heard it will rain"
友達によると、そのレストランはおいしいそうだ
"According to my friend, I heard that restaurant is delicious"
ニュースで、地震があったそうです
"On the news, I heard there was an earthquake"
Related Grammar Points
- 〜そう (sou) - Looks like (observation)
- 〜らしい (rashii) - It seems/apparently
- 〜みたい (mitai) - Seems like
- 〜ようだ (you da) - It appears
- Reporting Speech - と言う patterns
- 〜によると - According to