Use of そう in the phrase 本当に起こりそうな夢を見た

Japanese
#1

Hi, I just came across a review item asking me to fill in 本当に起こりそうな夢を見た. I got this right, but I was confused by the translation of “I had a dream that seemed like it could actually occur.”

Why does the English translation use “seem like it could” instead of saying something like “a realistic dream”. Does そう carry the nuance of probability or likelyhood? I thought it was more of a sensory perception of something else.

If I say 美味しそう, could I actually mean “it probably tastes good”? Not sure if there is a distinction in Japanese, but to me these two approaches give a slightly different meaning in English. If you want to be concerned with details, sure, if I just perceive something as being good, I am not 100% sure about the taste yet and, therefore, it is “probably good”. But if I hear someone say that the food I prepared is “probably good” or “could be good” upon looking at it, I would not be as happy as hearing them say “it looks good”.

So, am I wrong?

#2

I think part of what might be making this confusing to you is because you equate this word in Japanese with something that has to have a one to one meaning in English. It would be best to accept the idea that different languages have words that don’t translate one to one, and rather we must, as learners, understand the nuance and remove it from the native language part of our brain, and place it in its own category.

Also, you say “probably” instead of seems. “The food seems tasty” is a better translation than “The food probably is tasty”. The dream seriously seemed like it could have occurred.

At the end of the day そう has multiple meanings that we don’t have a word for the same purpose in English, all while serving those purposes with no real “nuance.” It just is a word with that meaning, but if we don’t give up on our English brain, we try to create one meaning and then add a “nuance” as if to say the word doesn’t expressly mean something that can be applied to a multitude of situations.

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#3

That’s exactly what I was wondering. Looking back, I must have come across similar translations with other review items, but I never stopped to think about this. Unfortunately, I am not at the level yet where I can detach myself from English while learning Japanese. Maybe I can start trying when I start N3.

#4

there’s no level you have to be at in order to do that, it’s all about mindset. if you never start, you’ll never really have the point where you feel confident to do so. you can be n1 but if you never talked once you’ll always feel awkward, same thing with building a mindset.

much easier said than done though (also, sorry if that came out as rude, i am probably too confident in the methods that work for me)

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#5

^^^ This guy is right.
－N1 cert holder

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#6

Also to add on, it doesn’t have to be everything. Feel totally free to utilize the amazing leverage that is existing fluency in another language. Just don’t conflate that with a necessity. For me I remembered 離婚 because when people divorce they have to do “recon” to find someone new. But then I could never remember きのこ until I realized (although the origins are dubious) that it could be written 木の子, and now I never forget it. Just realize that forming links is the important part, and sometimes links will take easier in the target language than the native one.

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