ということだ・
You pass on what you were told, as a message or a report. とのことです is how a message is handed on at work. ということだ also sums up what has just been said, often after つまり: "so that means…".
a message
Tanaka has been in touch: the train is delayed, so he'll be about ten minutes late.
a report
According to the weather agency's announcement, the typhoon will approach Kyushu tomorrow morning.
so that means
This ticket is valid today only. In other words, that means you can't use it tomorrow.
How to form it
Plain form + ということだ／とのことだ
A noun or な-adjective takes だ, which is often dropped: 休みだとのことです, 休みとのことです. Polite: ということです, とのことです.
Passing on a message
Someone rang, wrote or told you something that another person needs to know, and you hand it on. とのことです is the standard way to do it at work, in speech and in email. Who it came from is said first, or is already clear.
Yamada phoned. He says he has a fever, so he is taking today off.
The doctor has been in touch: there was nothing wrong in the test results.
I phoned the restaurant, and they said they are fully booked today.
とのことでした is just as common: that was the answer you got.
Passing on a report
ということです does the same for news and reports, and it is what newsreaders say. Plain ということだ is for articles and stories.
According to the person in charge, the results will be announced on Friday.
According to the university website, renovation work on the library starts next week.
To a friend it would sound like reading out a bulletin. Friends say んだって.
Summing up: so that means…
After something that has just been said, by you or by the other person, ということだ says what it comes to. No source is named, and つまり, では or じゃあ often leads in. With ね or か it checks that you have understood. とのことだ doesn't have this meaning.
I'm sorry, I have to be at the hospital from first thing tomorrow.
So that means you can't come to the morning meeting.
Breakfast is included in the price. In other words, that means you don't have to pay for it separately.
So that means you can't come on Saturday?
Among friends, ということ is ってこと.
Close neighbours
そうだN4
The ordinary "I hear", for news you picked up. とのことです hands on a message or a report, and sounds more official.
The radio news says the north exit is closed for construction work.
と言われているN3
What people in general say, with no one message behind it.
This temple is said to have been built in the eighth century.
ということはN2
With は, at the start of a sentence: "which means…". You work out something new from what you have just seen or heard.
The lights in the meeting room are off. That means the meeting must be over already.
ということN3
In the middle of a sentence it only turns a statement into a noun: "the fact that".
I only learned today that he is leaving the company.
Check yourself
1You took a phone call for your manager. Which do you say to her?
Choose an answer to see why.
2A salesclerk says the shop takes cash only, and the customer answers like this. What is the customer doing?
カードは
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
In letters and email, とのこと can stand without です, written to the very person whose news it is.
I hear you are well, and I am very glad of it.
More sentences
Yamada has been in touch: he will get here around seven.
According to the institute's report, the average temperature in this region has risen by about two degrees over the past fifty years.