～みたいだ

How to form it

• Verb / い-adjective (plain form) + みたいだ
• な-adjective (stem) + みたいだ
• Noun + みたいだ
• Modifying a noun: ～みたいな + noun

Register: Casual; spoken

Explanation

Gives a judgement from what the speaker sees or hears, or compares one thing to another, in a casual way.

It is the conversational equivalent of ようだ. Because it is casual, it is not suitable for formal writing or formal speech.

Examples

1. 誰かいるみたいだよ。声が聞こえる。

   だれかいるみたいだよ。こえがきこえる。

   It seems someone is there. I can hear a voice.

2. 彼女は風邪をひいたみたいだ。

   かのじょはかぜをひいたみたいだ。

   She seems to have caught a cold.

3. あの人は子供みたいに笑う。

   あのひとはこどもみたいにわらう。

   That person laughs like a child.

4. 外は夏みたいに暑い。

   そとはなつみたいにあつい。

   It is hot outside, like summer.

Compare with

• ～ようだ: ようだ is the more formal equivalent.
• ～らしい(伝聞・推量): らしい is based on hearsay or indirect evidence.

Common mistakes

• Using みたいだ in formal essays or speeches; ようだ is more suitable.