～そうもない / ～そうにない Meaning & Usage: “It doesn’t look like…” in Japanese

Introduction

Have you ever wanted to say “It doesn’t look like…” in Japanese?

For example:

• How do you say “I probably can’t meet my partner tomorrow”?
• How do you say “This restaurant is so crowded that we probably can’t get in right away”?

In this article, you will learn ～そうもない / ～そうにない, a useful derived pattern from the N4 grammar ～そうだ (It looks like ~ / It seems ~).

1. Meaning: What do ～そうもない / ～そうにない mean?

～そうもない and ～そうにない mean:

• it doesn’t look like…
• probably won’t…
• there seems to be no chance of…

They express the speaker’s guess that an action is unlikely to happen.

Core idea

You already know the N4 pattern:

• 雨あめが降ふりそうだ。
  It looks like it is going to rain.

With ～そうもない / ～そうにない, the meaning becomes negative:

• 雨が降りそうもない。
  It doesn’t look like it’s going to rain.

So this pattern is used when the speaker thinks:
“From the situation now, V probably will not happen.”

～そうもない vs ～そうにない

These two forms have almost the same meaning, and in most cases they can be used interchangeably. For example:

• 終おわりそうもない
• 終わりそうにない

Both mean something like “it doesn’t look like it will finish.”

If we want to point out a very small nuance difference:

• ～そうもない can sound a little more subjective, as if the speaker is saying,
  “I do not think this will happen.”
• ～そうにない can sound a little more objective, as if the speaker is making a judgment or outlook that “the possibility of this happening is low.”

However, this difference is very subtle. In actual usage, the meaning is nearly the same, and in almost all cases, they are interchangeable.

2. Formation

Basic pattern

Vます-stem + そうもない
Vます-stem + そうにない

Important note: only with verbs

This pattern is used with verbs, not adjectives.

• おいしい (delicious) → ✖ おいしそうもない、おいしそうにない
• げんき (energetic) → ✖ げんきそうもない、げんきそうにない

For adjective-based “doesn’t look…” expressions, Japanese usually uses ～なさそう instead:

• おいしくなさそう (or おいしそうじゃない、おいしそうではない)
• げんきじゃなさそう (or げんきそうじゃない、げんきそうではない)

Common tendency

This grammar is often used with potential forms, such as:

• 行いける
• 会あえる
• できる

That is because many sentences express the idea of “probably can’t do X.”

How to make it polite (Formal forms)

When speaking politely (Desu/Masu form), you have two options for the ending:

• 終おわりそうもないです (Casual polite – common in daily conversation)
• 終おわりそうもありません (A bit more formal)

Both are natural and correct.

3. Useful Examples

このレポートは締切しめきりまでに終おわりそうにない。
I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this report by the deadline.

今年ことしは忙いそがしくて、海外旅行かいがいりょこうには行いけそうもありません。
I am busy this year, so it does not look like I can go on an overseas trip.

雨あめは夜よるまでやみそうにありません。
It does not look like the rain will stop until tonight.

電車でんしゃが遅おくれていて、約束やくそくの時間じかんに間まに合あいそうにありません。
The train is delayed, so it does not look like I will make it on time.

4. Related grammar (comparison)

～そうだ (It looks like ~ / It seems ~)

This is the base pattern.

• 会あえそうだ。
  It looks like I can meet them.
• 終おわりそうだ。
  It looks like it will finish.

By contrast:

• 会あえそうもない / 会えそうにない。
  It does not look like I can meet them.
• 終おわりそうもない / 終わりそうにない。
  It does not look like it will finish.

So:

• ～そうだ = likely to happen
• ～そうもない / ～そうにない = unlikely to happen

～なさそう

This is used mainly with adjectives, not verbs.

• おいしくなさそう。
  It does not look delicious.
• 元気じゃなさそう。
  He does not look well.

～そうな / ～そうに

～そうな and ～そうに let you use ～そうだ to modify something else.

• ～そうな + N = N that looks/seems…
• ～そうに + V = do V in a way that looks/seems…

Example:

• 雨あめが降ふりそうだ (It looks like it’s going to rain)＋天気てんき (weather)
  → 雨あめが降ふりそうな天気てんき (weather that looks like it will rain)
• うれしい (happy)＋笑わらう (to laugh)
  → うれしそうに笑わらう (smiling happily)

～ないそうだ

Learners sometimes confuse Vます-stem + そうにない with V-nai form + そうだ. They look similar but have completely different meanings.

• Guess: 雨あめは降ふりそうにない
  It doesn’t look like it will rain. (Based on what you see now)
• Hearsay: 雨は降らないそうだ
  I heard that it won’t rain. (Based on the weather forecast or news)

5. Practice

Translate the following English into Japanese using ～そうもない or ～そうにない.

FAQ

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to use ～そうもない / ～そうにない, a derived form of N4 ～そうだ, to express that something does not look likely to happen.

With this grammar, you can now:

• say naturally that an action is probably not going to happen,
• use both ～そうもない and ～そうにない with confidence,
• and clearly distinguish this pattern from ～そうだ and adjective-based ～なさそう.