Hearsay (Plain+そうです)
	●	すうがくは むずかしいそうです。	I hear that math is difficult.
	●	すうがくは むずかしくないそうです。	I hear that math is not difficult.
	●	たからくじに あたったそうです。	I hear that she won the lottery.
	●	大きい町じゃなかったそうです。	I hear that it was not a large town.
	●	あの人は ゆうめいだそうです。	I hear that she is famous.
	●	田中さんはさしみがきらいなんだそうです。	I hear that Mr. Tanaka dislikes sashimi.

To state the source of hearsay, we use the phrase ～によると (according to ...). See the examples below.

• 山口先生によると、日本には「ガラパゴス」というけいたい電話があるそうだ。
  According to Prof. Yamaguchi, there are cell phones called "Galapagos" in Japan.
  
  
• 新聞によると、大きいたいふうが日本に来ているそうです。
  According to the newspaper, a big typhoon is approaching Japan.

Don't confuse the hearsay pattern with the appearance pattern introduced in L. 15. Compared to the hearsay pattern, the appearance pattern is grammatically limited. It works only with stems of adjectives and verbs (#1 to #3 below). It is questionable with some な-adjectives (#4 below) and it cannot be combined with nouns (#5 below).

	Appearance (It looks like...)	vs.	Hearsay (I hear that...)
1.	すうがくは むずかしそうです。		すうがくは むずかしいそうです。
2.	スミスさんは日本に行けそうです。		スミスさんは日本に行けるそうです。
3.	スミスさんはピザがすきそうです。		スミスさんはピザがすきだそうです。
4.	？その人はゆうめいそうです。[Questionable]		その人はゆうめいだそうです。
5.	そこは大きいまちそうです。[Ungrammatical]		そこは大きいまちだそうです。

In informal/casual conversations, ～と言っていました (Someone was saying...) can be shortened to ～って言ってた or just ～って. (You can consider って as the informal version of the quotation marker と.) This also functions like the hearsay pattern ～そうです. An explanation mode ending can be added as shown in #5 and #6 below.

	Hearsay (Plain+って)
1.	すうがくは むずかしいって。	I hear that math is difficult.
2.	スミスさんはＮＹに行ったって。	I hear that Ms. Smith went to New York.
3.	大きい町じゃなかったって。	I hear that it was not a big town.
4.	ゆうめいな 歌手(かしゅ)だって。	I hear she is a famous singer.
5.	ゆうめいな 歌手(かしゅ)なんだって。	I hear she is a famous singer, it figures.
6.	ゆうめいな 歌手(かしゅ)だったんだって。	I hear she used to be a famous singer, it figures.

We used the たら form (plain-past + ら) in the たらどうですか pattern we learned earlier to give a gentle suggestion How is it if...?/Why not...? This pattern is part of the more general conditional pattern Ａたら、Ｂ (If/When A, then B). This latter pattern is used to express a conditional dependence between A and B: If Condition A is met, B is realized.

	Condition (たら form)	Result
●	よかったら	どうぞ。	If you like/If it suits you, go ahead/have some.
●	あした さむかったら	コートを着て行きます。	If it is cold tomorrow, I will go wearing a coat.
●	ＮＹに行ったら	田中さんと会います。	If I go to NY, I will meet Ms. Tanaka.
●	この本を読んだら	かしてあげるよ。	When I have read this book, I'll lend it to you.
●	夜だったら	そこは あいてます。	If it is night, that place is open.
●	べんりだったら	買いたいです。	If it is convenient, I would like to buy one.
●	やすくなかったら	ほしくありません。	If it is not cheap, I don't want one.
●	５時までに来なかったら	私は帰ります。	If he doesn't come by 5, I will leave.
●	お金持ちだったら	大きい家に住みたい。	If I were rich, I want to live in a big house.
●	しずかじゃなかったら	こまりますね。	If it is not quiet, it is troublesome.

How likely Condition A is met ranges widely with this pattern. If A is likely to happen, ～たら is understood as when ... If it is not likely to happen or purely hypothetical, ～たら is understood as if...

• この本を読んだら、かしてあげるよ。
  When I have read this book, I will lend it to you.
  
  
• 家に帰ったら、電話します。
  When I get home, I will call you.
  
  
• おわったら、でかけましょう。
  When it is finished, let's go out.
  
  
• ３時までにスミスさんが来なかったら、私は帰ります。
  If Ms. Smith does not come by three o'clock, I will leave.
  
  
• さむかったら、ストーブをつけて下さい。
  If it's cold, turn on the heater.
  
  
• 私だったら、あの人とはつきあいません。
  If I were you, I would not date him.
  
  
• お金があったら、世界中をりょこうしたい。
  If I were rich, I would like to travel all over the world.

Note the following usage constraints for this pattern.

1. Condition A has to be met completely BEFORE B happens. If A and B happen at the same time or if A happens after B, this pattern cannot be used.
   
   日本に行ったら、カメラを買いたいです。[Acceptable]
   If/When I go to Japan, I want to buy a camera.
   [Going to Japan happens BEFORE buying a camera.]
   Rephrase using なら 日本に行ったなら、カメラを買いたいです。
   Rephrase using 時 日本に行った時、カメラを買いたいです。
   
   日本に行ったら、カメラを持っていきます。 [Unnatural]
   If/When I go to Japan, I will bring my camera.
   [たら implies that going to Japan happens BEFORE taking a camera along.]
   Rephrase using なら 日本に行くなら、カメラを持っていきます。
   Rephrase using 時 日本に行く時、カメラを持っていきます。
   
   日本に行ったら、パスポートをとるでしょう。 [Unnatural]
   If I'm going to Japan, I would get a passport.
   [たら implies that going to Japan happens BEFORE one obtains a passport.]
   Rephrase using なら 日本に行くなら、パスポートをとるでしょう。
   
   明日(あした)、両親(りょうしん)が来たら、アパートをそうじしておいたほうがいい。 [Unnatural]
   If my parents are coming tomorrow, I had better clean my apartment.
   [たら implies that the parents coming happens BEFORE my cleaning up my apartment.]
   Rephrase using なら 明日、両親が来るなら、部屋をそうしていおいたほうがいい。
   
   
2. If the sentence describes a past sequence of events (When Event1 happened, Event2 happened next), Event2 must be an unexpected event NOT controlled by the subject of Event1. This is a technique often used to describe a surprise event in fairy tales.
   
   たろうくんが学校に行ったら、だれもいませんでした。
   When Taro arrived at school, there were no one [to his surprise].
   Rephrase using 時 たろうくんが学校に行った時、だれもいませんでした。
   When Taro arrived at school, there were no one [which was not entirely surprising].
   
   たろうくんが学校に行ったら、勉強しました。 [Ungrammatical]
   When Taro arrived at school, he studied.
   [Studying is not a surprise event. It is a self-controllable action of Taro.]
   Rephrase using 時 たろうくんが学校に行った時、勉強しました。
   
   
3. A purely hypothetical past case [contrary to the fact] is understood as "if".
   
   きのう学校に行ったら、田中さんに会えたでしょう。
   If I had been to school yesterday, I would have been able to meet Tanaka.

The permission form ～てもいい (It is okay even if something is the case) was introduced earlier. This also works with the negative て form, ～なくてもいい (It is okay even if something is NOT the case or It does NOT have/need to be the case).

• くつをぬがなくてもいいです。
  It is okay even if you don't take off your shoes.
  = You don't have to take off your shoes.
  
  
• きれいじゃなくてもいいです。
  It is okay even if it's not clean. = It does not need to be clean.
  
  
• あたらしくなくてもいいです。
  It is okay even if it is not new. = It does not have to be new.

Xは Yみたいです is a casual resemblance pattern that expresses an inference that X looks like/is like Y. This phrase has a similar meaning to the appearance pattern そうです (It appears...), but it is used more flexibly than そうです. That is, みたいです can follow a noun, な-adjective (without な) or the plain-form of a verb and い-adjective. The resemblance may be based on non-visual information: X seems like Y.

		みたいです
1.	スミスさんがうらやましい	みたいです。	He/She seems envious of Mr. Smith.
2.	田中さんはりこんした	みたいです。	Mr. Tanaka seems like he got divorced.
3.	きのう雨がふった	みたいです。	It looks like it rained yesterday.
4.	あの女の子は男の子	みたいです。	That girl looks like a boy.
5.	としょかんはにぎやか	みたいです。	The library sounds cheerfully noisy.
6.	そのケーキはおいしくない	みたいです。	The cake seems it's not tasty.
7.	たいふうは日本に来ない	みたいです。	The typhoon seems it's not coming to ...
8.	としょかんはしずかじゃない	みたいです。	The library seems it's not quiet.

	The use of みたいです is grammatical here, but if the visual information is the basis for drawing an inference, the appearance pattern そうです is more likely to be used.   　おいしそうです 　They look delicious 　(directly based on the appearance).   is more likely to be said than   　おいしいみたいです 　It seems delicious 　(based on various sources).
	FYI: みたい itself works like a な-adjective, so it can be used to modify a noun with な:   　男の子みたいな女の子 　a girl who looks like a boy

The Noun+の+ 前(まえ) pattern was introduced earlier (e.g., クラスの前に before the class). Instead of a noun, a non-past, plain form sentence can precede 前 and express a sequence of actions: S2 happens before S1. In this case, S1 must always be in the non-past form regardless of the tense of the main sentence (S2). This is because S1 has not started before S2 happens. If the tense of the main sentence (S2) is the past, the entire sentence is understood as a past event. (See below. Going to Japan happened in the past.)

		S1	前に、	S2
	●	ひげをそる	前に、	はをみがきます。	I brush my teeth before I shave my beard.
	●	おちゃを入れる	前に、	おゆをわかしました。	I boiled water before I made tea.

The pattern Vて+から expresses a sequence of actions: S2 happens only after V-ing (S1).

		Verb-てから (S1)、	S2
	●	はをみがいてから、	かおをあらいます。	I wash my face after I brush my teeth.
	●	日本に行ってから、	カメラを買いました。	I bought a camera after I went to Japan.

Caution: Do not confuse Vて+から (e.g., はをみがいてから) with plain-past V+から (e.g., はをみがいたから). The second pattern expresses the cause/reason for something (e.g., Because I brushed my teeth).