げ means "looking, with an air of": how someone's feeling shows from the
outside. Drop the い of an い-adjective, or take a な-adjective as it is, and
add げ. The result is a な-adjective, so it takes before a noun and
before a verb.
。
She looked at me with sad eyes.
。
The children are playing happily.
。
He showed off his exam results with a smug look.
。
My mother seemed lonely somehow.
It goes on adjectives of feeling and mood – , ,
, , – and not on ones that describe how big or
what colour a thing is: ×大きげ, ×赤げ.
げ or そう
is the everyday "looks like" and works with almost any adjective or
verb. げ is narrower and more literary: it belongs in stories and descriptive
writing, where it paints someone's mood as the narrator sees it. In
conversation, use そう.
。
The girl was reading the letter with a happy look.
ない becomes なさげ
takes さ before げ, as it does before そう.
。
He answered without much confidence.
。
She looked uninterested.
Usage notes
These go beyond げ on an adjective.
Nouns with ありげ
After a noun, げ comes with : there seems to be some of it.
。
He had a confident air about him.
Wanting to: たげ
becomes たげ: someone looks as if they want to do something.
。
He looked as if he wanted to say something.
Lingaku