そう〜ない details
not all that … — the written twin of そんなに〜ない, denying a degree the situation has raised + change + not
sou kawaranai
not all that … — the written twin of そんなに〜ない, denying a degree the situation has raised
meaning: don't change all that much
駅からは、そうかからない。歩いても十分ほどだ。
eki kara wa, sou kakaranai. aruite mo juppun hodo da.
From the station it doesn't take all that much time — ten minutes on foot. neutral
会場まではそう遠くないので、歩いてまいります。
kaijou made wa sou tookunai node, aruite mairimasu.
The venue is not all that far, so I shall walk. formal
- ない-form
- i-adjective stem
Examples
not all that much — a degree already on the table is denied, in writing or careful speech
駅からは、そうかからない。歩いても十分ほどだ。
eki kara wa, soukakaranai. aruite mo juppun hodo da.
From the station it doesn't take all that much time — ten minutes on foot. neutral
会場まではそう遠くないので、歩いてまいります。
kaijou made wa sou tookunai node, aruite mairimasu.
The venue is not all that far, so I shall walk. formal
制度が変わっても、現場の仕事はそう変わらない。
seido ga kawatte mo, genba no shigoto wa sou kawaranai.
Even when the rules change, the work on the ground does not change all that much. neutral
Formation
そう{I-stem}くないattaches to i-adjective stemそう{V-nai}attaches to ない-form
Notes
そう遠くもない — but the bare form (そう遠くない) is just as natural.
Related patterns
Similar
One word in two registers — そんなに is the everyday spoken shape, そう the reduced one kept for writing and careful speech; そう often takes a は or も after the degree word (そう長くはない) for emphasis, though the bare form works too.
あまり scales the predicate down on the speaker's own authority and belongs to speech as much as to writing; そう denies a degree the situation has just proposed, and belongs to writing and careful speech where そんなに takes over in conversation.
Lookalikes
Two different そう — the one in 降りそうもない is the 様態 そう welded to a ます-stem and reads "shows no sign of", while this one stands free before a degree word and can be deleted without breaking the sentence.