I know when placed after a verb it means "seems like" or "looks like", but what I want to know is what the そう in
そう です か
means. I know そう です か means "Is that so?" but I've seen そう used with other words and I'm not sure what exactly it means. Does it even have a meaning on its own or is its meaning affected by the characters that follow it?
I know this might seem like a translation question but whenever I tried to search for an answer online I was only really able to find answers relating to how to use Sou when attached to verbs.
Answer
This 'そう' is an adverb which is similar to English 'so', or 'like that'.
- そう思う。 (I) think so.
- そうする、 (I'll) do so.
- そう大きくはない。 (It's) not that big.
And you can use 'そう' by itself to mean many things, depending on the context and the intonation:
- そう。 That's it. Yes. Exactly. Good.
- そう？ Is that so? Really? Are you sure?
- そう。 Oh. Okay. Uh-huh. (not very interested)
- そう、あれは10年前… Well, that was 10 years ago ... (used to recall something old)
'そう' that comes after a verb (e.g しそう, 思いそう) is an auxiliary verb, and it's etymologically different. One online dictionary has two entries for the adverb そう and the auxiliary verb そう.
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