Satousan wa natsu ga sukida to itteimasu

…to iimasu

In Japanese, you can quote comments or statements using the structure “…to iimasu”, which translates to “someone says that…” in English. This is a useful way to report speech or convey what someone else has said. The comments must be in their short forms, as these are the grammatical parts of the sentences.

Quoting Comments with “…to iimasu”

  1. Formulate the Comment in Short Form:
    • Verbs should be in their dictionary form (affirmative) or plain negative form.
    • Adjectives should be in their short form.
  2. Add “to” after the Comment:
    • This particle acts as a connector, similar to quotation marks in English.
  3. End with “iimasu”:
    • This phrase means “says” or “said,” completing the quoted comment.

Watashi wa kinou kaisha o yasumu to iimashita. (I said yesterday that I took a day off.)
Suzukisan wa onsen ga sukida to itte imasu. (Mr. Suzuki says that he likes hot springs.)
Satousan wa onsen ga kiraida to itte imasu. (Mr. Sato says that he doesn’t like hot spring.)
Jasutinsan wa firipin de gakusei datta to itte imashita. (Justin said that he was a student in the Philippines.)

A to iu B

You can also express “B that they say is A,” “B which is called A,” or “B which is named A” using “A to iu B”. The description (A) should be in short form if it is a verb or an adjective, but if A is a noun, it is used in its base form. This construction helps in describing or defining something by giving it a name or explaining what it is known as.

In Japanese, “…to iu…” is used to link the description (A) to the subject (B), forming sentences that indicate what something is called, what it is named, or what it is said to be. The structure is: [A to iu B].

Steps to use “…to iu…”

  1. Formulate the Description (A):
    • For verbs and adjectives, use their short forms.
    • For nouns, use the base form.
  2. Add “to iu” after the Description (A):
    • This phrase connects the description to the subject, meaning “which is called” or “that they say is.”
  3. Place the Subject (B) after “to iu“:
    • This completes the sentence, indicating what B is called or described as A.

Tarou to iu inu (a dog which is called Taro)
shizuoka to iu machi (a city which is called Shizuoka)
Tanaka to iu hito o shitte imasuka? (Do you know a person who is called Tanaka?)

Expressions

Satou:
Okinawa to iu basho o shitte imasuka? (Do you know the place which is called Okinawa?)

Justin:
Shirimasen. Donna basho desuka? (I don’t know. What kind of place is that?)

Satou:
Minami ni aru basho de, ryuukyuu to iu betsu no namae o motte imasu. (The place in the south and it has another name called Ryukyu.)

Justin:
Nani ga yuumei desuka? (What is famous?)

Satou:
Rafutee to iu ryouri ga yuumeidesu. (Food which is called Rafute is famous.)

Exercise

Questions

Translate in English

  1. Sono hito wa ano hito ga uso o itte iru to itte imasu. *uso (lie)
  2. Sensei wa rekishi wa omoshiroi to iimashita. *rekishi (history)
  3. Furano to iu basho o shitte imasuka?
  4. Ano suupaa ga yasui to iu uwasa *uwasa (rumor)

Answers

  1. The man says that that man is telling a lie.
  2. The teacher said the history was interesting.
  3. Do you know the place called Furano?
  4. The rumor that (they say) the supermarket is cheap