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I was reading a lesson in my textbook about 〜なさそうだ when I noticed that the book never put だ before よ or ね. So it would be 美味{おい}しくなさそうよ or 美味{おい}しくなさそうね.

So I want to confirm, is adding だ before よ or ね is considered incorrect?

My logic is... Since I think I've heard about ねこですよ or ねこだよ, I thought it is okay to say 美味{おい}しくなさそうだよ or 美味{おい}しくなさそうだね. Could you please enlighten me about this ? Thank you.

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    No, not incorrect; but omitting it is considered feminine. (But do remember that putting だ after an i-adjective is ungrammatical.)
    – oals
    Commented Jul 26, 2016 at 15:55

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The textbook might not display examples containing だね・だよ・だよね for every grammatical construction, but in informal speech tacking on these phrases at the end of sentences is common.

This includes 〜なさそうだ(ね・よ・よね) which is grammatically correct.

Consider the following example、which for simplicity will be modifying 美味｛おい｝しそう（です）.

美味｛おい｝しそうですね ・ 美味｛おい｝しそうですよ ・ 美味｛おい｝しそうですよね

can be spoken more informally (such as with friends) like so:

美味｛おい｝しそうだね 　・　美味｛おい｝しそうだよ　・　美味｛おい｝しそうだよね

which can be even further abbreviated by omitting the です copula altogether (which can sound more feminine):

美味｛おい｝しそうね 　・　美味｛おい｝しそうよ　・　美味｛おい｝しそうよね

All of the above examples are grammatically correct, though context will determine what level of formality would be appropriate.

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    This could give the impression that 美味しそうね is less formal than 美味しそうだね, where the most important difference is that the former is marked for feminine speech.
    – dainichi
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 4:43
  • @dainichi I've edited my answer to clear potential confusion. Thanks for pointing it out!
    – SSTTLL
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 20:09

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