Grammar Quiz No.73

N2Word Choice〜そう vs 〜よう vs 〜らしい

空が暗いですね。雨が降り___ですよ。

Q. Which suffix expresses 'looks like it's about to rain' (direct observation)?

Translation

The sky is dark. It looks like it's about to rain.

Explanation

Masu-stem + そう expresses an imminent event judged from appearance: 降りそう 'about to rain'. ようだ/みたいだ infer from evidence more generally and attach differently (降るようだ), and らしい reports hearsay.