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JLPT N4Hearsay & Conjecture

みたいだ— Seems like / Appears to (casual inference)

Casual form of ようだ. Expresses inference based on direct observation or information. "It seems like / looks like / apparently."

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Structure · 形

[Plain form / Noun] + みたいだ/みたいです

Examples · 例文

  • 外が騒がしい。何かあったみたいだ。

    Soto ga sawagashii. Nanika atta mitai da.

    It's noisy outside. Something seems to have happened.

    何かあった + みたいだ = it seems something happened

  • 彼女は怒っているみたいです。

    Kanojo wa okotte iru mitai desu.

    She seems to be angry.

    怒っている + みたいです (polite inference)

  • 道がぬれている。雨が降ったみたいだ。

    Michi ga nurete iru. Ame ga futta mitai da.

    The road is wet. It seems it rained.

    降った + みたいだ = inference from what I see (the wet road)

Usage notes · 注意

  • Key Concept: みたいだ ≈ ようだ (casual vs formal).
  • Detail: みたいに = like / in the manner of.
  • Detail: みたいな = like / similar to (adjective use).
  • Summary: In everyday speech, みたい is far more common than ようだ.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones みたいだ is tested against.

vsようだ

ようだ is the more formal/written equivalent used in the same way; みたいだ is the casual spoken form. Also note ようだ attaches to nouns with の (学生のようだ) while みたい attaches directly (学生みたい).

vsらしい

らしい stresses information from an outside source (hearsay); みたいだ leans on the speaker's own observation/impression.

vsそうだ (様態)

そうだ (looks like, from appearance) predicts based on how something looks right now (雨が降りそう); みたいだ concludes from broader evidence that something is the case.

More hearsay & conjecture

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