と呼ぶ・
と呼ぶ is "call": what someone calls a person or a thing. と呼ばれている, "is called", gives the name in general use.
Please call me Ken.
My friends call me Ken.
This slope is called Fujimi-zaka.
Call
Person or thing + を + name + と呼ぶ
The name comes straight before と, often in 「 」.
Is called
Person or thing + は + name + と呼ばれている
呼ばれる is the passive. The people who use the name take に: みんなに.
- Things people say
- 〜と呼んでください, when you introduce yourself. 何と呼べばいいですか, to ask what to call someone.
- In conversation
- って呼ぶ: ケンって呼んでください, or with friends ケンって呼んで.
- Where you'll meet it
- と呼ぶ in everyday talk. と呼ばれている there too, and in guidebooks and explanations.
In use
What should I call you?
My mother calls me Ken-chan.
Everyone calls him "Sensei".
The name takes と
Please call Miki over.
を: the person you want to come.
With を and no name, 呼ぶ is to call someone over, or to send for a taxi or a doctor. To phone someone is 電話する.
といいます or と呼ぶ?
Please call me Mayu.
What she would like people to call her.
といいます gives the name itself. と呼ぶ and と呼ばれている give the name people use, which is often a nickname, a short form or a popular name. For a thing with one ordinary name, either will often do.
Close neighbours
というN5
"Called" before a noun. For "a cafe called Aozora", the everyday word is という.
There is a cafe called Aozora in front of the station.
と言われているN3
"It is said that": what people say about something, not what they call it.
This temple is said to have been built in the eighth century.
Check yourself
1You would like your classmates to use your nickname, Sam. Which one?
Choose an answer to see why.
2What does this tell you?
山田先生は
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
with friends
What should I call you?
After 何, って is usually just て.
When I was a child, people called me Ken-chan.
The University of Tokyo is known as "Todai".
Kyoto is known as "the city of students".
You can see Mt Fuji from it, which is why this slope is called Fujimi-zaka, "Fuji-view slope".