I got to the そう (looks like) grammar point on bunpro and it had two suggested readings, the one from Wasabi and the other from Tae Kim. One point of confusion though is that they disagree on how to handle this grammar for negative verbs.
From Tae Kim:
Negative forms: Replace the last 「い」 with 「さ」 and append 「そう」
Example:
こない＋さ＋そう＝こなさそう
Seems like (he/she) will not come.
From Wasabi:
There is just one negative form of verbs, which is to replace the last だ with にもない.
Example:
雨が降りそうにも（ない / ありません）。
There is no indication that [it] will rain.
Is it simply the difference between “it seems like X will not happen” versus “it does not seem like X will happen”?
「田中さんが来なさそう」 = It looks like Tanaka-san will not come.
「田中さんが来そうにもない」= I does not look like Tanaka-san will come.
First of all, is that correct overall?
Secondly, in English I would say that the first statement feels slightly stronger. Is there a difference in nuance or connotation between them in Japanese?
I agree with your translations. I’d say that I tend to see the negation of そう (as in そうにもない) when the nuance is about rejecting a fact (“does not look like Tanaka-san will come”), while negating what comes before is more like the fact itself is about something not happening (“looks like Tanaka-san will not come”)
Here’s some answers from natives:
The particle も is usually seen as an emphasis enhancer.
Awesome thanks for the explanation. And thanks for the edit putting my examples with each part of your explanation because I was having some trouble following.
omg @koichi I hope you’re looking and keeping track. (The Helpful Durtle badge will be mine)
@gojarappe Sadly I can’t do much more than that this week, and this was just a quick thing to see how it looked anyway and how it might work. It still might be better in spreadsheets than that, though the best option would be an actual database where people can input stuff and look for stuff.
So, trying out みる in combination with some other grammar points I’ve learned and I just had a question about if I’m doing this right:
いつか見てみなくてはいけない。
Am I doing this correctly? I’m trying to say “I have to try to watch it sometime.” I’m basically wondering if I can use みる with なくてはいけない in this fashion.
So, I read here that the difference between たらいい and ばいい is that the former is more informal/conversational. I get this easily because of the nuances between たら and ば.
However, I read here that ばいい “is used to give directions (not advice or opinions).” I guess this is wrong?.. I mean, most if not all of the example sentences I’ve seen using ばいい are still recommendations. Is there something I’m not getting between direction and advice/opinion or is the 2nd link wrong?
When I google “見てみなくてはいけない”, I get 4 results. While the grammar is fine, the usage is probably not. It’s redundant. 見なくてはいけない says the same thing, though not a literal translation. I checked with the wife on this one.
