What exactly does an adjective stem + そう mean?


The other day I posted a picture of some food on Facebook, and I noticed that
all of my Japanese friends were saying 「おいしそう」. I made a good guess to what it
meant, but I wasn't certain what exactly they were saying. I've seen this
stem+そう with other i-adjectives too, such as 楽しそう, but none of this is covered
in any of my Japanese books.

What exactly is this? Is it slang? Can it be used with na-adjectives or nouns
too? If so how? Thanks! :)




[See [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/607/what-is-
the-difference-between-plain-form-of-verb-and-root-of-verb), which deals with
the same pattern when used with verbs. I'll adapt my answer from that question
to answer yours.]

-そう after the stem of a adjective means "looking/sounding as if ___." おいしそう means "it looks as if it will be delicious." It is similar to constructions like おいしいみたい or おいしいよう, but -そう emphasizes evidence of the senses rather than general "seeming."

Contrast it with おいしいそう, which means "it is said to be delicious."

You can use -そう with verbs, adjectives, and some na-adjectives, but not with
nouns. Here are some na-adjective examples:

  * 駄目そう (looks like it's no good)
  * 丈夫そう (sturdy-looking)
  * 元気そう (peppy-looking)
  * 大変そう (Sounds rough!)

You can also use the -そう phrase itself as a na-adjective:

  * おいしそうなケーキ (a delicious-looking cake)




[See [this question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/607/what-is-
the-difference-between-plain-form-of-verb-and-root-of-verb), which deals with
the same pattern when used with verbs. I'll adapt my answer from that question
to answer yours.]

-そう after the stem of a adjective means "looking/sounding as if ___." おいしそう means "it looks as if it will be delicious." It is similar to constructions like おいしいみたい or おいしいよう, but -そう emphasizes evidence of the senses rather than general "seeming."

Contrast it with おいしいそう, which means "it is said to be delicious."

You can use -そう with verbs, adjectives, and some na-adjectives, but not with
nouns. Here are some na-adjective examples:

  * 駄目そう (looks like it's no good)
  * 丈夫そう (sturdy-looking)
  * 元気そう (peppy-looking)
  * 大変そう (Sounds rough!)

You can also use the -そう phrase itself as a na-adjective:

  * おいしそうなケーキ (a delicious-looking cake)

