adverbial N3 common casualpolitewritten
っぽい — -ish / has the quality of ~
っぽい
Meaning
① resembles / -ish: -ish / like ~ / has a ~ quality — something strongly resembles or gives off the character of X
② prone to / tends to: prone to ~ / easily ~ — readily does or becomes something, as a habitual trait
Key sentence
① resembles / -ish
彼はちょっと子供っぽい。
He's a little childish.
② prone to / tends to
祖父は年を取って忘れっぽくなった。
My grandfather has become forgetful with age.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun / adjective-stem / Verb (ます-stem); conjugates like an い-adjective | N / V(stem) + っぽい | 白っぽい / 飽きっぽい / 子供っぽくない |
Examples
① resembles / -ish
このスープは水っぽくて味がしない。
This soup is watery and has no flavor.
② prone to / tends to
彼女は怒りっぽいから、言葉に気をつけて。
She's quick to anger, so watch your words.
Easily confused with
〜気味 っぽい says something has or resembles a quality (黒っぽい = 'blackish'). 気味 marks a slight onset of a usually-unwelcome state (疲れ気味 = 'a bit tired'). 〜らしい (typical) らしい means 'befitting / a model example of ~' and is positive (男らしい = 'manly, as a man should be'). っぽい means 'resembles ~,' often with a critical edge (男っぽい = 'mannish').
See っぽい in real sentences
Jengo shows っぽい the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.