ということはso that means…; which means…
You take a fact you have just heard or seen and say what follows from it: "so that means…", "which means…". It often opens a new sentence.
opening a sentence
The lights in the meeting room are off. That means the meeting must be over already.
after the fact itself
The reservation went through, so that means we can leave as planned, right?
Opening a sentence
Fact。 ということは、+ what follows from it
With friends: ってことは.
After the fact itself
Plain form + ということは、+ what follows from it
A noun or a な-adjective usually keeps its だ: 金曜日だということは.
- Before it
- Something you have just been told, noticed or worked out.
- After it
- What it comes to, often ending in ということですね, んですね or わけだ. With ね or か you are checking that you have it right.
- Where you'll meet it
- Everywhere: conversation, meetings, written reasoning.
In use
The last bus has already left.
So that means we'll have to walk home.
If the two of us each pay half, that means 3,000 yen each.
Reception closes at five? So that means I'm already too late for today.
If he hasn't replied, that may mean he hasn't decided yet.
When it is only "the fact that"
ということ also makes a statement into a noun, "the fact that", and は can follow that too. What comes next tells you which.
He isn't coming, which means one seat will be free.
A free seat follows from it: "which means".
Everyone already knows that he isn't coming.
Nothing follows. It is what everyone knows: "the fact that".
Close neighbours
つまりN3
Says the same thing another way. ということは goes a step further, to something new.
The store is open only on Saturdays and Sundays. In other words, it is closed on weekdays.
わけだN3
"Which means" at the end of the sentence: it closes the conclusion that ということは opens. The two often go together.
So we can't meet this weekend, then.
ということだN3
At the end of a sentence it passes on what you were told: "I hear that…". It can also close a conclusion, as わけだ does.
I hear that Yamamoto is getting married next month.
Check yourself
1What is B doing?
A
Choose an answer to see why.
2In which sentence is ということは "which means"?
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
Said alone, it asks the other person to say what follows.
Which means…?
More sentences
If the deadline is Friday, that means we need to finish checking by Thursday.
If the rent is going up by 10,000 yen from next month, that means an extra 120,000 yen a year.
If you can explain it in that much detail, you must have actually used it.
If he isn't coming to the meeting, does that mean someone will come in his place?