〜みたい / みたいに / みたいな (~mitai / mitai ni / mitai na) — The spoken "like / seems"
The easy form that takes the place of ようです when you talk with friends — "seems like".
Formula (सूत्र ढाँचा)
Grammar rule (व्याकरण नियम र परिभाषा)
When to use it
- The difference is the setting: みたい belongs to speech, ようです to writing and to work.
- It is rarely taught, yet Japanese friends say it all day.
Meaning
「〜みたい」means the same as ようです — a guess from what you yourself saw or felt.
How to attach
- Attaching it is easy: put みたい straight onto the plain form of a verb or an い-adjective (ない → ないみたい), and drop the だ of a な-adjective or a noun (子どもだ → 子どもみたい).
- みたい itself behaves like a な-adjective: before a noun it is みたいな (子どもみたいな 人), before a verb or an adjective it is みたいに (子どもみたいに 泣く).
- Add です to make it polite, but with a boss or a customer ようです is still the safe choice.
Versus what you know
Which to pick? In both, the information comes from your own eyes — use みたい when chatting with friends, ようです in a report or with a boss.
Examples (उदाहरणहरू)
田中さんは 今日 元気が ないみたいです。
たなかさんは きょう げんきが ないみたいです。
Tanaka seems a bit down today.
木村さんは 子どもみたいな 人です。
きむらさんは こどもみたいな ひとです。
Kimura is a childlike person.
鈴木さんみたいに 日本語が 上手に なりたいです。
すずきさんみたいに にほんごが じょうずに なりたいです。
I want to get good at Japanese like Suzuki.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
Which correctly says "a childlike person"?
💡 Hint: みたい attaches to the noun with nothing in between.
子ども + みたいな + 人. With ようです it would have been 子どもの ようです.
Chatting with a friend, you want to say "Tanaka seems a bit down today". Which sentence fits best?
💡 Hint: The meaning is the same as ようです — look for the spoken form.
みたい belongs to speech, so it fits with a friend. ようです is for reports and for a boss. そうです and らしいです report what you heard, not what you saw yourself.
「鈴木さん 日本語が 上手に なりたいです。」— which fits?
💡 Hint: A verb follows, not a noun.
Before a verb or an adjective use みたいに; before a noun, みたいな.
Your score: /3