Using そう to Say "I hear that..."

To give a "hearsay report" (i.e., say "I hear that..."), the sentence-final そう can be used. It's added to the end of a sentence that's in the short form.

留学生はかわいいそうだね。
I hear that the exchange student is cute.

リーさんは最近忙しいそうだよ。
I hear that Lee is busy lately.

新しい公園すごくきれいだそうですよ。
I hear the new park is really pretty.

トムのおじいさんは親切だったそうだね。
I heard that Tom's grandfather was kind.

カナト君の好きな食べ物はケーキだそうですよ。
I hear that Kanato's favorite food is cake.

君の友達は有名なシェフだそうだね。
I hear your friend is a famous chef.

メアリーとたけしは結婚したそうですよ。
I hear that Mary and Takeshi got married.

ジムさんはヨットを買うそうだね。
I hear that Jim is buying a yacht.

Following the usual pattern, nouns and na-adjectives must have だ placed after them when そう follows. Also note that "the reported speech retains the tense and polarity of the original utterance."

This may look awfully similar to when we learned そう to say "it seems like...", but there are some clear differences.

忙しいそう versus 忙しそう  (note the い)
好きだそう versus 好きそう  (note the だ)

Genki notes that with this structure, we do not say things like そうじゃない or そうでした, unlike the other そう grammar point we learned. そうです and そうだ are the main two used.

This structure can also be used to report things heard from people or other sources, like TV or newspapers. To specify where you heard it from, you can say [Source] によると, which means "According to [source]..."

天気予報によると、台風が来るそうです。
According to the weather forecast, a typhoon is approaching.

お母さんによると、バカだそうだなぁ。
According to your mom, you're an idiot.