Rashii, Rashiku, and Rashisa


I know Rashii（らしい） is an i-adjective. What are the forms Rashiku（らしく） and
Rashisa（らしさ） that I see often used?




### Background: Conjugation

The word らしい conjugates the same as any other _-i_ adjective. Here are the
basic forms, with their names in Japanese and English:

  * Ending in い  
終止形【しゅうしけい】 terminal / predicative (used to end a sentence) and 連体形【れんたいけい】
attributive (used to modify a noun or noun phrase)

  * Ending in く  
連用形【れんようけい】 adverbial (used to modify another verb or adjective, sometimes
used as a conjunctive to say "this _and_ [whatever comes next]")

  * Ending in くて  
接続【せつぞく】 conjunctive (formed from the adverbial + て, used to say "this _and_
[whatever comes next]")

  * Ending in さ  
名詞【めいし】 noun or nominal (similar to "-ness", used to describe the objective
degree or "how much" of an adjective)

  * Ending in み  
名詞【めいし】 noun or nominal (similar to "-ness", used to describe the subjective
impression or feeling of the adjective)

### Your Questions

  * What is らしく?

らしく is the adverbial form of らしい. While a phrase like 「XYZらしい」 means that
something is "like XYZ", or "seems XYZ-ish", a phrase like 「XYZらしく」 would mean
"in an XYZ manner" as an adverbial, or "seems XYZ-ish, _and_ [whatever comes
next]" as a conjunctive.

  * What is らしさ?

らしさ is the noun form of らしい. While a phrase like 「XYZらしい」 means that something
is "like XYZ", or "seems XYZ-ish", a phrase like 「XYZらしさ」 would mean "XYZ-ish-
ness", in terms of the degree or "much-ness" of the XYZ-ish quality.




### Background: Conjugation

The word らしい conjugates the same as any other _-i_ adjective. Here are the
basic forms, with their names in Japanese and English:

  * Ending in い  
終止形【しゅうしけい】 terminal / predicative (used to end a sentence) and 連体形【れんたいけい】
attributive (used to modify a noun or noun phrase)

  * Ending in く  
連用形【れんようけい】 adverbial (used to modify another verb or adjective, sometimes
used as a conjunctive to say "this _and_ [whatever comes next]")

  * Ending in くて  
接続【せつぞく】 conjunctive (formed from the adverbial + て, used to say "this _and_
[whatever comes next]")

  * Ending in さ  
名詞【めいし】 noun or nominal (similar to "-ness", used to describe the objective
degree or "how much" of an adjective)

  * Ending in み  
名詞【めいし】 noun or nominal (similar to "-ness", used to describe the subjective
impression or feeling of the adjective)

### Your Questions

  * What is らしく?

らしく is the adverbial form of らしい. While a phrase like 「XYZらしい」 means that
something is "like XYZ", or "seems XYZ-ish", a phrase like 「XYZらしく」 would mean
"in an XYZ manner" as an adverbial, or "seems XYZ-ish, _and_ [whatever comes
next]" as a conjunctive.

  * What is らしさ?

らしさ is the noun form of らしい. While a phrase like 「XYZらしい」 means that something
is "like XYZ", or "seems XYZ-ish", a phrase like 「XYZらしさ」 would mean "XYZ-ish-
ness", in terms of the degree or "much-ness" of the XYZ-ish quality.

