# そう
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

* This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.
* Alternative spelling
* 然う (rare)
/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/

#### Adverb

そう • (sō)
* so, like that, in such a way, such
    それはそう。／そりゃそうだろ。
       Sore wa sō. ／ Sorya sō daro.
       Well, of course.

##### See also

| | ko- “this” (close to speaker) | so- “that” (close to listener) | a- “that over there” (far from both) | do- “which” (indeterminate, question) |
| Object | これ (kore) | それ (sore) | あれ (are) | どれ (dore) |
| Object | これら (korera) | それら (sorera) | あれら (arera) | — |
| Determiner | この (kono) | その (sono) | あの (ano) | どの (dono) |
| Determiner | これらの (korera no) | それらの (sorera no) | あれらの (arera no) | — |
| Kind | こんな (konna) | そんな (sonna) | あんな (anna) | どんな (donna) |
| Kind | こういう (kō iu) | そういう (sō iu) | ああいう (ā iu) | どういう (dō iu) |
| Place | ここ (koko) | そこ (soko) | あそこ (asoko)* | どこ (doko) |
| Place | こっから (kokkara) | そっから (sokkara) | — | どっから (dokkara) |
| Direction / Human | こちら (kochira) | そちら (sochira) | あちら (achira) | どちら (dochira) |
| Direction / Human | こなた (konata) | そなた (sonata) | あなた (anata) | どなた (donata) |
| Direction | こっち (kotchi) | そっち (sotchi) | あっち (atchi) | どっち (dotchi) |
| Human | こいつ (koitsu)$^†$ | そいつ (soitsu)$^†$ | あいつ (aitsu)$^†$ | どいつ (doitsu)$^†$ |
| Manner | こう (kō) | そう (sō) | ああ (ā)** | どう (dō) |
| Degree | これくらい (kore kurai) | それくらい (sore kurai) | あれくらい (are kurai) | どれくらい (dore kurai) |
| Degree | これだけ (kore dake) | それだけ (sore dake) | あれだけ (are dake) | どれだけ (dore dake) |
| Degree | これほど (kore hodo) | それほど (sore hodo) | あれほど (are hodo) | どれほど (dore hodo) |
| * irregular ** regular (long vowel) † potentially rude or derogatory |||||

#### Interjection

そう • (sō)
* yes, yeah; it's like that; that's how it is; I see. (interjection to show that the speaker is paying attention)
** 1987 March 20 [1987 February 20], Fujiko Fujio, “テレパ椎(しい) [Telepathinkapin]”, in カンビュセスの籤(くじ) [Cambyses’s Drawing] (藤子不二雄 ＳＦ全短編; 1), 2nd edition, volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, →ISBN, 第二章, page 386:
    おれたちや親(しん)友(ゆう)だな！そうだな そうだ　そうだ
       Ore-tachi ya shin'yū da na! Sō da na Sō da Sō da
       We are bosom buddies! Yes, we are. Yes, we are. Yes, we are.

##### Synonyms

* はい (hai)
* その通(とお)り (sono tōri)
* うん (un)

### Etymology 2

/sau/ → /sɔː/ → /soː/
Probably either a shift from 様 (sama), or directly from 相 (sō). Appears from the Muromachi period.
Possibly influenced by, or developed by analogy to, the adverbial and interjectional sō (然う).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [so̞ː]
* In Tokyo accent, the accent of the verb construction depends on the suffixed verb:
| | Suffixed verb is accented | Suffixed verb is non-accented |
| Continuative stem + そう (sō) (evidential) | Result has the accent on the そ (so) mora Example: つくりそ​ーだ [tsùkúrísóꜜòdà] | Result is non-accented Example: あそびそーだ [àsóbísóódá] |
| Finite form + そう (sō) (hearsay) | Result keeps the original accent Example: つく​るそーだ [tsùkúꜜrùsòòdà] | Result is accented on the そ (so) mora Example: あそぶそ​ーだ [àsóbúsóꜜòdà] |

#### Suffix

そう • (-sō) -na (adnominal そうな (-sō na), adverbial そうに (-sō ni))
* seem, seem like, appear
* (after the plain form of a verb or adjective) apparently, heard that (relating something heard from someone or somewhere else)

##### Usage notes

This productive suffix meaning “seeming like” can come after a full phrase in plain form, or after a verb or adjective stem, thereby forming a -na adjective.
* After a full phrase in plain form, the resulting phrase implies reported speech, something heard from someone else. For example, the verb 降る (furu, “to fall from the sky”) plus this suffix forms 降るそう (furu sō, “I've heard that it will rain” or “someone told me that it will rain”). The adjective 美味しい (oishii, “delicious”) plus this suffix forms 美味しいそう (oishii sō, “I've heard that it's delicious”).
* After a verb or adjective stem, the resulting word means “it looks like X”. For example, the stem 降り (furi-) of the verb 降る (furu, “to fall from the sky”) plus this suffix forms 降りそう (furisō, “it looks like it will rain”). The stem 美味し (oishi-) of the adjective 美味しい (oishii, “delicious”) plus this suffix forms 美味しそう (oishisō, “looks delicious”). However, いい (ii) + そう becomes よさそう (yosasō) and ない (nai) + そう becomes なさそう (nasasō).
The suffix should not be used after stem forms describing visually obvious physical traits like color. Although 赤いそう (akai sō, “I've heard that it's red”) would be valid, *赤そう (akasō, “it seems red”) would not. Another example of this is that 可愛い (kawaii) means someone looks cute so it does not need another そう. (かわいそう (kawaisō) does exist, but means “pitiful” or “poor”.) The suffix should, however, be used when describing another person's mood or mental state. For example, if another person looks glad, one says 嬉しそう (ureshisō, “you seem glad”), which is more natural and polite than saying 嬉しい (ureshii, “you are glad”).
This word is morphologically a clitic after a phrase in plain form, and an inflectional suffix after a verb or adjective stem. It is classified as a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

##### Inflection

Stem forms :
| Imperfective (未然形) | そうだろ | そうだろ | -sō daro |
| Continuative (連用形) | そうで | そうで | -sō de |
| Terminal (終止形) | そうだ | そうだ | -sō da |
| Attributive (連体形) | そうな | そうな | -sō na |
| Hypothetical (仮定形) | そうなら | そうなら | -sō nara |
| Imperative (命令形) | そうであれ | そうであれ | -sō de are |
| Key constructions ||||
| Informal negative | そうではない そうじゃない | そうではない そうじゃない | -sō de wa nai -sō ja nai |
| Informal past | そうだった | そうだった | -sō datta |
| Informal negative past | そうではなかった そうじゃなかった | そうではなかった そうじゃなかった | -sō de wa nakatta -sō ja nakatta |
| Formal | そうです | そうです | -sō desu |
| Formal negative | そうではありません そうじゃありません | そうではありません そうじゃありません | -sō de wa arimasen -sō ja arimasen |
| Formal past | そうでした | そうでした | -sō deshita |
| Formal negative past | そうではありませんでした そうじゃありませんでした | そうではありませんでした そうじゃありませんでした | -sō de wa arimasen deshita -sō ja arimasen deshita |
| Conjunctive | そうで | そうで | -sō de |
| Conditional | そうなら（ば） | そうなら（ば） | -sō nara (ba) |
| Provisional | そうだったら | そうだったら | -sō dattara |
| Volitional | そうだろう | そうだろう | -sō darō |
| Adverbial | そうに | そうに | -sō ni |
| Degree | そうさ | そうさ | -sōsa |

### Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of そう – see the following entries. :
| 【双】S | [adjective] pair; double [counter] counter for pairs |
| 【壮】S | [adjective] vibrant, manly, brave [proper noun] a male given name |
| 【宗】6 | [proper noun] a surname |
| 【相】3 | [noun] appearance, how something looks [noun] an aspect of something [noun] (grammar) grammatical aspect [noun] (physics) a phase, as of matter [noun] (ikebana) the central supporting branch of an ikebana arrangement |
| 【草】1 | [noun] grass [noun] a draft, a rough copy [noun] cursive, calligraphy in a running hand [noun] something unofficial, an informal abbreviation or knock-off |
| 【喪】S | [noun] mourning |
| 【葬】S | [noun] burial |
| 【僧】S | [noun] a (Buddhist) priest, bonze |
| 【層】6 | [noun] layer [counter] counter for floors or stories of a building |
| 【箏】H | [noun] a guzheng, zheng (Chinese zither) [proper noun] a surname |
| 【左右】 | [noun] (obsolete) left and right [noun] letter; tidings |
| 【艘】H | [counter] small boats |
| 【総】5 | [prefix] overall, gross, general |
| 【宋】J | [proper noun] Song (former Chinese dynasty): [proper noun] name of the state during the Zhou dynasty (Can we verify this sense?) [proper noun] the 劉宋 (Ryūsō), around 420-479 [proper noun] the 北宋 (Hokusō, “Northern Song”) and 南宋 (Nansō, “Southern Song”) dynasties, spanning around 960-1279 [proper noun] a surname |
| 【走】2 | [suffix] race; run |
| 【添う】 | [verb] to accompany [verb] to live up to Alternative spelling 副う |
| 【沿う】 | [verb] to run along (a river, railway, road, etc.), to line (the shore etc.) [verb] to follow (rules, guidelines, etc.) |
| 【候そろ】4 | [verb] (archaic) to be; auxiliary used in place of -ある after で or に when forming a copula [verb] (archaic) to do; auxiliary used in place of -ます after the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of a verb Alternative spelling す |
(This term, そう (sō), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as そう, see Category:Japanese kanji read as そう.) :
(The following entries do not have a page created for them yet: 奏, 荘, 庄, 曹, 惣, 装, 想, 争, 甑, 騒, 疎雨, 疏雨, 副う.)

### References

* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD)