4

So what is the difference between「~らしい」(hearsay)　vs　「~そうだ」(hearsay)?

この料理はおいしいらしい。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.
この料理はおいしいそうです。This dish, I've heard it is delicious.

Both report an indirect source, information.
「~らしい」seems more polite, more softer than「~そうだ」? or more subjective maybe?

Can you help me ?

Thanks.

Kenshiro
  • 121
  • 6

1 Answers1

5

There is little difference in the function as hearsay, but らしい tells the speaker's "interpretation" of the fact, while そうだ is mentally a quote to the speaker, that needs to be kept faithful to what they originally heard.

What I mean is:

X: Aさんも参加するんですか？ Will A-san join us?

Y: その日は病院に行くって言ってました。 S/he said s/he'll see doctor that day.

X:

  • Aさんは病院（○ らしい／○ だそう）です。
  • Aさんは病院に行くので来れない（○ らしい／△ そう）です。
  • Aさんは来れない（○ らしい／× そう）です。

On the other hand, らしい is not suitable when the source is perfectly reliable:

X: Aさんも参加するんですか？

A: その日は病院に行きます。

X: Aさんは病院（× らしい／○ だそう）です。

Bonus: never confuse [dictionary form] + そう and [masu-stem (連用形) / stem] + そう. The latter tells what the speaker collects from their direct sensation (look, sound, taste, ...).

hearsay              sensation
行くそうだ           行きそうだ
おいしいそうだ       おいしそうだ
きれいだそうだ       きれいそうだ
broccoli forest
  • 50,861
  • 1
  • 78
  • 181
  • Thanks @broccoli facemask. And the difference between「~らしい」vs「~そうだ」(conjecture/guess)? 「雨が降るらしい」and 「雨が降りそうです」. I just thought about it. – Kenshiro Aug 20 '20 at 13:31
  • @Kenshiro You can simply go to see some of links Em. has suggested above. – broccoli forest Aug 20 '20 at 13:35
  • I mean the difference「~らしい」(conjecture/guess) vs「~そうだ」(conjecture/guess)? 「雨が降るらしい」and 「雨が降りそうです」both translate "it looks like it's going to rain". I didn't find in links. – Kenshiro Aug 20 '20 at 14:00
  • @Kenshiro 雨が降りそうです does mean what you say, but 雨が降るらしい does not. I don't think 降るらしい means anything other than "it is said to rain". – broccoli forest Aug 20 '20 at 14:14
  • @Kenshiro Hey, I just noticed that you keep using 雨が降りそうです when you mention "そうだ (hearsay)", but 降りそう is NOT hearsay. 降るそう is. They are distinct. Please read my last paragraph. – broccoli forest Aug 21 '20 at 10:00
  • facemask Yes, I know, there is two「~そうだ」：「ます-stemそうだ」(conjecture/guess) and「V-dictionnary そうだ」(hearsay). And for「~らしい」too: one for hearsay and an other for conjecture, guess. All taken from「みんなの日本語」. My second question was the difference between ます-stemそうだ」(conjecture/guess) and「~らしい」(conjecture/guess). I try to unravel, to understand all difference between all of this「~らしい、~そうだ、~ようだ、みたいだ、とか、っぽい」. Sorry to bother you with this ^^ – Kenshiro Aug 21 '20 at 11:55
  • 1
    @Kenshiro I went to see some JLPT articles, and finally understand what you are saying. Well... first, I think the "conjecture" らしい is pretty low frequency with limited usage (though indeed interesting). At least I can't think of an easy case 雨が降るらしい becomes valid in that way. Second, you should open a new question for this as it goes aside from your original one (don't forget to explain why you think existing threads don't answer you, otherwise it'll be judged duplicate). – broccoli forest Aug 21 '20 at 15:17
  • 1
    Thanks. The link for this question : https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/80300/39752 – Kenshiro Aug 24 '20 at 13:00