〜げ

A suffix that turns an emotion word into a な-adjective describing how someone outwardly looks or behaves: 楽しげ, 悲しげ, 不安げ, 自信ありげ, 言いたげ. It is used about other people's visible appearance, not about your own feelings, and tends to appear in narrative or descriptive writing. Unlike 〜そうだ, which covers any guess from appearance, 〜げ is limited to a set of feeling words and sounds more literary.

• 子どもたちは楽しげに遊んでいる。

  こどもたちはたのしげにあそんでいる。

  The children are playing merrily.

• 彼女は何か言いたげな顔でこちらを見た。

  かのじょはなにかいいたげなかおでこちらをみた。

  She looked at me with an expression as if she wanted to say something.

• 結果を待つ学生たちは不安げな様子だった。

  けっかをまつがくせいたちはふあんげなようすだった。

  The students waiting for the results looked anxious.