〜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)
「〜みたい」means the same as ようです — a guess from what you yourself saw or felt. The difference is the setting: みたい belongs to speech, ようです to writing and to work. 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. It is not in Minna no Nihongo, yet Japanese friends say it all day. 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。
tanaka-san wa kyou genki ga nai mitai desu.
Tanaka seems a bit down today.
木村さんは 子どもみたいな 人です。
kimura-san wa kodomo mitai na hito desu.
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。
suzuki-san mitai ni nihongo ga jouzu ni naritai desu.
I want to get good at Japanese like Suzuki.
Knowledge check (मिनी ज्ञान जाँच)
Question: 1/3Which 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