Confusion about "Seemingly not ～"


So there are several ways to express something is "seemingly not ～":

>   * ～なさそう
>   * ～そうにない
>   * ～そうもない
>   * ～そうにもない (is this one even real?)
>

I was always taught ～なさそう in my Japanese classes, and it was not until I heard
one of the other ones that I ever become confused about them.

After doing a little research on this, it seems that adjectives can only take
～なさそう. ex.

> ○ 料理がおいしくなさそう  
>  ？／× 料理がおいしそうにない

but that verbs can take any of the forms

> ○ 雨が 降らなさそう／降りそう（に・も・にも？）ない

So, my questions are a) is the above reasoning correct, and b) what are the
differences/nuances of the latter three forms? Someone please set me straight
on this; it's been bugging me for a couple years.




Looks like you have done your research well. You are correct with verbs only
taking そうに/もない。Although そうにもない is not grammatical.

>   * 雨が降らなさそう you make an assumption based on current state of the sky.
>   * 雨が降りそうにない you have confidence that it wont rain (due to some extra
> information maybe).
>   * 雨が降りそうもない you want it to rain but it seems like it wont (from extra
> information or from appearances)
>

There is another common way to express the same idea, ～みたいです。only used in the
affirmative. (ie, 「～みたいじゃない」ってだめです）

>   * あの男の人は学生じゃないみたいです on campus you plainly state that guy over there
> doesn't seem like a student.
>   * 雨が降らないみたいですよ when you heard a broadcast or checked the web. よ shows your
> confidence here. But...
>   * 雨が降らないみたいですね is similar to 降らなさそう because you are looking for agreement
> with ね
>




Looks like you have done your research well. You are correct with verbs only
taking そうに/もない。Although そうにもない is not grammatical.

>   * 雨が降らなさそう you make an assumption based on current state of the sky.
>   * 雨が降りそうにない you have confidence that it wont rain (due to some extra
> information maybe).
>   * 雨が降りそうもない you want it to rain but it seems like it wont (from extra
> information or from appearances)
>

There is another common way to express the same idea, ～みたいです。only used in the
affirmative. (ie, 「～みたいじゃない」ってだめです）

>   * あの男の人は学生じゃないみたいです on campus you plainly state that guy over there
> doesn't seem like a student.
>   * 雨が降らないみたいですよ when you heard a broadcast or checked the web. よ shows your
> confidence here. But...
>   * 雨が降らないみたいですね is similar to 降らなさそう because you are looking for agreement
> with ね
>

