らしい
らしい
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rashiiSentence Endings
Yuzuo Chan
|
28.06.2026
Meaning
I hear that…; it seems that… (a guess based on information you heard or on evidence you saw; the speaker is not fully certain)
Conjugation
V(plain form)+らしい: い-adjective+らしい
Examples
Show translation
キャロルとウィルは別れちゃったらしいよ。
天気予報によると、明日は雨が降るらしいよ。
田中さんは今日会社を休んでいます。どうやら病気らしいです。
あくびばかりしているから、彼はとても眠いらしい。
彼は新しいコンピューターを買ったらしい。
駅の前のパン屋は、ケーキが有名らしいよ。
Common Mistakes
Wrong: 彼は病気だらしい。
Correct: 彼は病気らしい。
Why: Do not put だ before らしい after a noun. Attach らしい directly to the noun.
Wrong: この町は静かならしい。
Correct: この町は静からしい。
Why: With na-adjectives, use the bare stem and drop な, so 静か + らしい.
Wrong: 彼は学生のらしい。
Correct: 彼は学生らしい。
Why: Unlike ようだ/みたい (学生のようだ), らしい attaches directly to a noun without の.
Key points
Use it to pass on information you got from someone else, or to make a detached inference from information or other evidence. It is neutral in register (polite form: らしいです). Unlike the hearsay use of そうだ, らしい can also express an inference based on information or other evidence. Unlike the appearance use of そうだ, it is not normally based on the speaker's immediate visual impression. Compared with ようだ/みたい, it sounds more detached. Note: N+らしい can also be a separate suffix meaning 'typical of/befitting' (e.g. 男らしい 'manly'), which behaves like an い-adjective. For things you directly know or experienced yourself, plain forms (e.g. 行きました) are more natural than らしい.
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