そっくり: looking alike and carrying everything over

そっくり most often says that two people or things look, sound, or otherwise seem strikingly alike. 弟(おとうと)は父(ちち)にそっくりだ means “My younger brother is the spitting image of my father.” The reference person or thing can take に: 子(こ)どもは母親(ははおや)にそっくりだ. When the sentence presents both sides as a pair, と is natural: 弟(お)と父(うととちち)はそっくりだ. You can also name the matching feature, as in 声(こえ)がそっくりだ or 笑(わら)い方(かた)がそっくりだ.

似(に)ている covers resemblance more broadly. 弟(おとうと)は父(ちち)に似(に)ている says that the brother resembles the father, but it does not insist that the match is remarkable. 弟(おとうと)は父(ちち)にそっくりだ makes the resemblance much stronger. In everyday conversation, そっくり can be a friendly observation about a child and parent, a voice on the phone, or two bags with nearly the same design. It is neutral rather than slang, and そっくりですね is an ordinary polite form. Still, comments about someone's appearance depend on tone and target; a comparison that sounds funny to the speaker may not feel flattering to the person described.

The word changes shape according to its job. At the end of a resemblance statement, use そっくりだ or polite そっくりです. Before a noun, use そっくりな or そっくりの, as in そっくりな顔(かお) and これとそっくりのかばん. Before an action that creates a match, use そっくりに, as in 本物(ほんもの)とそっくりに作(つく)る. The result can be much smaller than the original, such as a miniature, while still reproducing the relevant details very closely. そっくり describes the likeness that matters in context; it does not claim that two objects are literally the same object.

There is also an adverbial use that is not about resemblance. 中身(なかみ)をそっくり持(も)っていく means to take all the contents, leaving nothing behind. Here そっくり means “entirely,” “all of it,” or “without omission.” The fixed combination そっくりそのまま means that something is carried over as it is, with its form or contents preserved. In this use, do not add だ or な after そっくり. It directly modifies the action.

A useful listening check is to look for the sentence frame. A person or thing followed by にそっくりだ points to resemblance. Two items joined by と plus そっくりだ compare the pair. そっくりに作(つく)る describes matching reproduction. An object followed by をそっくり and an action often means the whole object or all its contents undergo the action. そっくりそのまま foregrounds preservation without meaningful alteration.

The word is normally written in hiragana. Its reading is そっくり, romanized sokkuri. The small っ doubles the following k sound. It is not so-ku-ri with three open syllables.

A family album at the photo shop

Mina is preparing a small album for her grandmother's eightieth birthday. She and her younger brother take a box of old photographs to a neighborhood photo shop. While the clerk scans the first page, a portrait of their father as a teenager appears on the monitor. The clerk looks from the screen to Mina's brother and laughs in surprise.

The target of the resemblance is 若(わか)いころの父(ちち), so it takes に. “The spitting image” works because the scene presents an immediately noticeable match. In a calmer description with only some shared features, 父(ちち)に似(に)ている would be enough.

Mina agrees that the faces are similar, but she notices that her brother did not inherit everything from one parent.

This sentence uses 似(に)ている because Mina is dividing the resemblance into different features. The brother resembles his father generally, while his voice resembles his mother. Replacing every 似(に)ている with そっくり would make each comparison sound near-exact and unusually strong.

The next photograph catches father in the middle of a laugh. Mina's brother smiles at the same moment, and the shape around their mouths matches almost perfectly.

Here 弟(お)と父(うととちち) presents both people symmetrically. まで adds the surprising detail that even their mouths while laughing match. The sentence does not need 似(に)ている after そっくり. Saying そっくりに似(に)ている would pile two resemblance expressions onto the same job.

Mina asks the clerk to preserve every photograph, not only the ones selected for the birthday album. The clerk scans each page in order.

This そっくり does not compare the scans with anything. It modifies スキャンしてもらった and says that all the contents were scanned, with none left out. The object アルバムの中身(なかみ)を makes the “entirely” reading clear.

On the final page, their grandmother had written names and dates in the margin. Mina wants the handwriting included because it is part of the family record.

そっくりそのまま tells the shop not to rewrite, modernize, or omit the notes. Their form is carried over as-is. The album is ready for the birthday gathering, and the family gets both a clean digital archive and a copy that preserves the original handwriting.

To choose naturally, first ask whether you are comparing or transferring. For a striking resemblance, identify the reference with に, or join the pair with と, and finish with そっくりだ. For a general shared feature, use に似(に)ている. If an entire set undergoes an action, place adverbial そっくり before that action. If the form itself must remain unchanged, そっくりそのまま makes that preservation explicit.