〜そうです（伝聞）

〜そうです (hearsay) is used to pass along information you heard or read, exactly as received: 雨が降るそうです (I hear it's going to rain). This pattern attaches to the plain form: 降るそうです, おいしいそうです, 静かだそうです, 学生だそうです — nouns and な-adjectives must take だ.

The source of the information is often stated with 〜によると: 天気予報によると (according to the weather forecast), ニュースによると (according to the news), 田中さんによると (according to Tanaka-san). The pair によると + 〜そうです appears very frequently — you should memorize it as a sentence template.

Don't confuse it with 〜そうです (appearance, "looks like"): the two patterns differ completely in how they connect — hearsay attaches to the plain form (降るそうです: I hear it will rain), appearance attaches to the ます-form with ます dropped (降りそうです: it looks about to rain). Compared with 〜らしい, hearsay 〜そうです relays exactly what was heard and usually names the source, while らしい mixes in the speaker's own inference.

Examples

• 天気予報(てんきよほう)によると、明日(あした)は雨(あめ)が降(ふ)るそうです。

  According to the weather forecast, I hear it's going to rain tomorrow.

• 田中(たなか)さんは来月(らいげつ)結婚(けっこん)するそうです。

  I hear Tanaka-san is getting married next month.

• あの店(みせ)のラーメンはとてもおいしいそうです。

  I hear the ramen at that shop is really delicious.

Related patterns

• 〜そうです（様態）
• 〜らしい
• 〜って