How to Say ‘Busy’ in Japanese
忙しそう
isogashi sou
[ee-soh-gah-shee soh]
💬 Usage Tip: [〜そう] means "seems" or "looks," so [忙しそう] is "looks busy," not just "busy." You can reuse it with other words like [楽しそう] "looks fun" or [おいしそう] "looks delicious."
Phrase Breakdown
忙し
isogashi
[ee-soh-gah-shee]
busy (stem used before -そう)
The adjective stem of 忙しい. It combines with そう to express appearance: 忙しそう = “looks busy.”
彼は忙しそうです。
He looks busy.
そう
sou
[soh]
seems; looks like (appearance)
Suffix meaning “seems/looks” based on outward appearance (寒そう, おいしそう).
そのケーキはおいしそう。
That cake looks delicious.
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