ように言う・
Use ように言う and related forms to report indirectly that someone was told or asked to do—or not do—something. The verb before ように names the action expected from the recipient.
Who does the action?
In an active sentence, the person marked with に normally receives the instruction and is expected to perform the action before ように. The subject gives or relays the instruction. In the passive pattern, the subject instead receives the instruction, and that same particle marks the person who gave it.
Core patterns
Notice how the requested action stays in the nonpast plain form, even when the act of speaking happened in the past.
母は弟に帰ったら電話するように言った。
My mother told my younger brother to call when he got home.
Analyze先生は学生に試験中は辞書を使わないように言った。
The teacher told the students not to use dictionaries during the exam.
Analyze私は同僚に会議の資料を確認するように頼んだ。
I asked a colleague to check the meeting materials.
Analyze私は医者に毎日三十分歩くように言われました。
My doctor told me to walk for thirty minutes every day.
AnalyzeDirect request and indirect report
てください addresses the listener directly. To tell someone else about that request, recast the action with ように頼む.
Directive or purpose?
In this lesson, ように is followed by a verb of saying, requesting, or ordering. Without such a verb, the same form can instead express a purpose or desired result.
忘れないように、メモを取ります。
I take notes so that I will not forget.
AnalyzeThis expresses purpose; nobody is reporting an instruction.
Choosing the reporting verb
言う is broad: the surrounding situation tells you whether the original words were advice, a request, or an order. Use 頼む when you want to make the request meaning explicit. Use 言われる when describing what someone was told to do, and 命じる for a formal or strongly hierarchical order.
More examples
父は私に夜遅く一人で出歩かないように言った。
My father told me not to go out alone late at night.
Analyze店長は新人に開店前にレジを確認するように言いました。
The manager told the new employee to check the register before the store opened.
Analyze私は受付の人に予約を変更するように頼みました。
I asked the receptionist to change the reservation.
Analyze子供たちは先生に廊下を走らないように言われた。
The children were told by their teacher not to run in the hallway.
Analyze監督は選手たちに最後まで集中するように命じた。
The coach ordered the players to stay focused until the end.
Analyze担当者は参加者に開始十分前までに集まるように言った。
The person in charge told the participants to gather at least ten minutes before the start.
Analyze