そうです - looks like ~ (appearance)

〜そうです

Meaning

Says something appears to be the case, based on what the speaker can see.

Explanation

Attached to an い-adjective's stem (dropping the final い) or a verb's stem, そうです expresses a judgment based on visual appearance - "it looks like it's going to rain" rather than an actual confirmed fact. Note いい becomes よさそうです, an irregular exception worth memorizing on its own.

Formation

い-adjective stem / Verb stem + そうです

Examples

このケーキはおいしそうです。
このケーキはおいしそうです。
This cake looks delicious.
雨が降りそうです。
あめがふりそうです。
It looks like it's going to rain.

Grammar explanations and example sentences written for NihongoTech.