Question 難しいそうな本を読めた

Zizka

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14 Apr 2016

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• 17 Feb 2020

• #1

I don't understand why a な is required here. そう isn't a な adjective is it? The dictionary says it's an adverb.

 

Buntaro

運動不足

Twenty-year veteran

27 Dec 2003

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• 17 Feb 2020

• #2

Hi Zizka,

In contrast to what your dictionary says, I do not think we can automatically say そう is not an adjective. Consider the sentence 中国語は難しいそうです (Chinese looks difficult). In this sentence, そう acts like an adjective.

 

Zizka

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14 Apr 2016

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• 17 Feb 2020

• Thread starter
• #3

Doesn't it act as an adjective modifying another adjective therefore an adverb? Seems modifying difficult which in turn modifies the book? I honestly don't know.

 

bentenmusume

原点回帰

Fifteen-year veteran

12 Oct 2004

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• 17 Feb 2020

• #4

For one thing, it's 難しそう, not 難しいそう. This is important. The latter is ungrammatical.*

(*At least for this grammatical pattern. There is a separate ～そう for hearsay that comes after the full predicate, e.g. 鈴木先生はなかなか厳しいそうです。"I hear that Prof. Suzuki is pretty strict." Note that the hearsay ～そう is not used adjectivally.)

And the "seems/appears" そう does, indeed, function grammatically as a な adjective.
優しそうな目をしている

When な adjectives are used adverbially, they take に. Same for ～そう.
丁寧に案内してくれた
楽しそうに遊んでいる

etc. etc.

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

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22 Feb 2008

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• 17 Feb 2020

• #5

Zizka said:

The dictionary says it's an adverb.

Click to expand...

Simply you just didn't look up the correct そう in the dictionary, as same as you did before for 初めて.

そう
Na-adjective, Suffix
2. appearing that; seeming that; looking like; having the appearance of
after masu stem or adj-stem

そう - Jisho.org

jisho.org

 

Zizka

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14 Apr 2016

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• 17 Feb 2020

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• #6

And the "seems/appears" そう does, indeed, function grammatically as a な adjective.

Click to expand...

I think I understand. It's not that そう is an adverb modifying the adjective 難しい. It's that そう is a suffixe which attaches itself to an adjective to indicate adjective "seems" something. In other words, they're not two separate entities which modify the same noun but a single adjective which is itself modified by a suffix. I get it now.