3

Hi in this sentence 'らしく' is used, but I am not really sure about the meaning of らしく. I found this explanation for it, but it doesn't helps me to understand its meaning in the sentence:

  • way to use 「らしい」 is to indicate that a person seems to be a certain thing due to his behavior.

誰かの視線に気づいたらしく、ふっと頭を上げ、通りのむこうからこちらの様子をじっとうかがっている猫を見つけた。

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    You have a typo: うががって > うかがって
    – Earthliŋ ♦
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 13:27
  • 1
    Another one: 誰が > 誰か
    – Earthliŋ ♦
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 13:29
  • @toobee, could you provide the translation for this sentence if there was one?
    – yadokari
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 14:57
  • thx, it is from a Harry Potter book. The corresponding English sentence is this one _ "But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street"
    – toobee
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 0:23

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

らしい is one of the way of saying something seems to be a certain way. EDICT has

らしい aux-adj
(1) seeming ... (expresses judgment based on evidence, reason or trustworthy hearsay)/appearing .../(suf,adj-i)
(2) (after a noun, adverb or adjective stem) -ish/like a .../typical of .../appropriate for .../becoming of .../worthy of the name ...

and らしく is the corresponding adverb.

In this sentence, meaning (1) is intended, i.e.

誰かの視線に気づいたらしく、ふっと頭を上げ、通りのむこうからこちらの様子をじっとうかがっている猫を見つけた。
Seeming to have noticed someone looking at him, he abruptly lifted his head and at the other end of the street found a cat staring his way.

Improve this answer
12
  • to anyone who would like to answer-about what grade reading level would this sentence be considered in Japanese? 中学校,高校生,大学生。。。どんな読解レベルの？
    – yadokari
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 15:16
  • 1
    @yadokari-san 小学生くらいです ^^　（中学入試の国語の問題見たことあるけどかなり難解な文が出てきます ^^　例:heian.ed.jp/admission/kakomon/12kakomon/a1-ko-m.pdf）ちなみに高校入試はこんな感じです:heian.ed.jp/admission/kakomon/12kakomon/h-ko-m.pdf
    – user1016
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 17:06
  • @ Chocolate, thank you for the examples. The English translation seems more like junior high school level to me (readable by a 10 or 11 year old), but Japanese students are probably more precocious than American.
    – yadokari
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 17:39
  • @yadokari-san, I wasn't notified again! www because of the space between the @ and my username. 日本の小学校は、12歳までなので・・・^^
    – user1016
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 19:49
  • 1
    I disagree with the translation "as though", which suggests that it wasn't actually the case that "he had noticed". A better translation would be "seemingly having noticed" or "appearing to have noticed" or something to that extent.
    – dainichi
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 0:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .