と言う・
Use this construction to report someone's exact words or the content of what they said. The form of the reporting verb shows when and how the saying is viewed.
Exact words and indirect reports
A direct quotation reproduces the speaker's wording, so polite forms can remain inside the quotation. An indirect report gives only the content, so the clause before と言う normally uses plain forms.
田中さんは「明日は休みます」と言いました。
Tanaka said, “I will take tomorrow off.”
AnalyzeThis is an exact quotation, so the original polite wording remains inside the quotation marks.
部長はその案に反対だと言いました。
The department manager said that he was against that plan.
AnalyzeThe indirect report uses the plain noun-style ending だ, even though the reporting verb is polite.
Choosing the reporting verb
と言った treats the saying as one completed event. と言っていた looks back from a later point and is common when passing on something previously heard, recalling what someone had said, or describing repeated speech. They are therefore not always free alternatives.
Reporting an instruction
Ordinary statements can be reported as a plain clause plus と言う. When you report an instruction or request indirectly, Japanese commonly uses a verb followed by ように言う instead.
先生は学生に明日までに作文を出すように言いました。
The teacher told the students to submit their essays by tomorrow.
AnalyzeThis reports an instruction rather than an ordinary statement.
More examples
妹は今日は家で勉強すると言いました。
My younger sister said that she would study at home today.
Analyze受付の人は「会議は三時からです」と言いました。
The receptionist said, “The meeting starts at three.”
Analyze父は若いころ、よく海で泳いだと言っていました。
My father used to say that he often swam in the sea when he was young.
Analyze彼女はその映画がとても面白かったと言っていました。
She said that the movie had been very interesting.
Analyze店員さんは、この商品は来週入荷すると言いました。
The store clerk said that this product would arrive next week.
Analyze子どもたちはまたここに来たいと言っていた。
The children said they wanted to come here again.
Analyze