そうもない
- 1Shows a strong, appearance-based prediction that an event is unlikely to occur.Ex. 1
- 2Shows that, judging by someone's behavior or attitude, they are unlikely to do something.Ex. 2
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Used in both conversation and writing to describe how a situation looks, such as the weather, the progress of work or someone's attitude. The judgment rests on visible signs, whereas はずがない and わけがない rest on reasoning or conviction. It often carries a sense of resignation or mild frustration that an expected change isn't coming.
Do not attach そうもない to the dictionary form of a verb; use the ます-stem (止みそうもない, not 止むそうもない).
Note that dictionary form + そうだ means hearsay, so the stem form is essential for this appearance meaning.
Note that そうもない is used mainly with verbs; with adjectives the usual negative is ～そうではない or ～なさそうだ.
- っこないN2っこない also attaches to the ます-stem and often pairs with potential verbs, but even when based on the situation at hand it expresses a strong assertion of "absolutely impossible" rather than a conjecture; it is casual and avoided in formal settings. Swapping it in makes the statement far more assertive.
- わけがないN3わけがない judges "absolutely impossible" from reason, with a strong and subjective tone, while そうもない conjectures "doesn't look like it will" from signs, more tactfully. わけがない attaches to plain forms, including nouns and adjectives, so the two generally should not be interchanged.
- はずがないN4はずがない concludes "impossible" from logic, common sense, or known facts, with a strong tone; it attaches to dictionary and た forms as well as adjectives and nouns. そうもない only conjectures from signs, attaches to the ます-stem, and is more tactful, so the two generally should not be interchanged.
- そうに / そうなN4そうに／そうな express affirmative appearance, functioning as adverbial or adnominal modifiers after adjectives and verbs to mean "looking as if..."; そうもない is a predicate expressing negative conjecture and mainly attaches to verbs. The そうに in 止みそうにない is not an adverbial modifier.
- そうだN4そうだ reports hearsay ("I hear that..."), attaches to plain forms, and contains no judgment of its own; そうもない conjectures "doesn't look like it will" from signs and attaches to the ます-stem. The two cannot be interchanged: 止まないそうだ means "I hear it won't stop."
そうもない is the negative form of the appearance pattern そうだ (with そうに／そうな as its adverbial and adnominal forms), meaning "it doesn't look like it will happen" based on visible signs. By contrast, はずがない and わけがない conclude "impossible" from logic or reason, and っこない is a strong, colloquial subjective denial.
