Chapter 8 — Quotation and Reported Speech

Every language needs a way to report what someone said, thought, heard, or wrote. English does this with phrases like "he said that..." or "I think that..." and uses the word "that" as a connector between the reporting verb and the reported content. Japanese uses the particle と.

The particle と is the single most important quotation marker in Japanese. It connects a quoted or reported clause to a verb of saying, thinking, hearing, or writing. You encountered と思う briefly in Stage 1. This chapter expands that foundation into a full treatment of quotation and reported speech, covering direct and indirect quotation with と言う, complex embedded clauses with と思う, hearsay with と聞いた, written reports with と書いてある, the casual quotation particle って, and the hearsay form そうだ. Together, these patterns account for a large portion of everyday Japanese, because Japanese speakers constantly relay information: what they heard, what someone told them, what they read, what they believe.

8.1 と言う — Direct and Indirect Quotation

The basic pattern

The verb 言う ("to say," 五段) takes a quotation before it, connected by the particle と.

[quoted content] と 言う / 言った / 言っている / 言いました

The quoted content can be a direct quotation (the speaker's exact words) or an indirect quotation (a summary of what was said).

Direct quotation

In direct quotation, you report the speaker's exact words. The quoted words are enclosed in Japanese quotation marks 「 」, followed by と, followed by the verb of saying.

田中さんは 「明日 行きます」と 言いました。 "Tanaka said, 'I will go tomorrow.'"

母は 「早く 起きなさい」と 言いました。 "My mother said, 'Get up early!'"

先生は 「宿題を 出してください」と 言いました。 "The teacher said, 'Please turn in your homework.'"

Notice that inside the quotation marks, the words are exactly what the original speaker said, including their choice of politeness level. Tanaka said 行きます (polite); the mother said 起きなさい (command form, from Chapter 6); the teacher said 出してください (polite request).

Indirect quotation

In indirect quotation, you report the content of what was said without quoting exact words. The embedded clause is in plain form, and there are no quotation marks.

田中さんは 明日 行くと 言いました。 "Tanaka said that he would go tomorrow."

母は 早く 起きろと 言いました。 "My mother said to get up early."

先生は 宿題を 出すようにと 言いました。 "The teacher said to turn in the homework."

Several things change in indirect quotation:

1. The embedded verb shifts to plain form. 行きます becomes 行く. 起きなさい becomes 起きろ (the plain imperative, from Chapter 6) or 起きるように (an indirect instruction).
2. Quotation marks are dropped.
3. Pronouns and time words may shift to reflect the reporter's perspective, just as in English. The original speaker's 明日 might stay 明日 or change to 次の日 depending on when the report is made.

と言っている — reporting someone's ongoing position

When you use the ている form with 言う, it often means the person keeps saying something, or holds a stated position.

山田さんは 行かないと 言っています。 "Yamada says (and maintains) that he won't go."

弟は 毎日 おなかが すいたと 言っています。 "My younger brother says he's hungry every day."

という — "called" / "named"

The combination という (or its written variant と言う) is used to identify names and define terms. This is an extremely common construction.

「さくら」という 名前の 女の子が います。 "There is a girl with the name 'Sakura.'" (Literally: "a girl of a name called 'Sakura'")

これは 「たこやき」という 食べ物です。 "This is a food called 'takoyaki.'"

田中さんという 人から 電話が ありました。 "There was a phone call from a person called Tanaka."

The pattern [name/word]という[noun] means "[noun] called [name/word]." You will encounter this constantly.

8.2 と思う — Complex Embedded Clauses

You learned と思う in Stage 1 as a way to express opinions: 日本語は おもしろいと 思います ("I think Japanese is interesting"). This section deepens that understanding.

Review: basic と思う

The verb 思う ("to think," 五段) takes an embedded clause in plain form before と.

あした 雨が 降ると 思います。 "I think it will rain tomorrow."

この 本は むずかしいと 思います。 "I think this book is difficult."

田中さんは もう 帰ったと 思います。 "I think Tanaka has already gone home."

The embedded clause must end in plain form: 降る (not 降ります), むずかしい (not むずかしいです), 帰った (not 帰りました).

First person only for affirmative と思う

In Japanese, と思う in the affirmative present tense is normally used only about the speaker's own thoughts. You cannot directly say "Tanaka thinks that..." because you do not have access to Tanaka's inner thoughts.

○ わたしは 日本語が おもしろいと 思います。 "I think Japanese is interesting."

✗ 田中さんは 日本語が おもしろいと 思います。

To report someone else's thoughts, you use と思っている:

田中さんは 日本語が おもしろいと 思っています。 "Tanaka thinks Japanese is interesting." (He holds this opinion.)

The ている form indicates an ongoing mental state that you can observe from the outside, rather than direct access to the person's thoughts.

Embedding complex clauses

Now that you know more grammar — potential, passive, causative, conditionals (coming in Chapter 10) — you can embed much richer clauses inside と思う.

この 漢字は 読めないと 思います。 "I think I can't read this kanji." (Potential negative)

あの 映画は 多くの 人に 見られると 思います。 "I think that movie will be seen by many people." (Passive)

子どもに もっと 野菜を 食べさせた ほうが いいと 思います。 "I think it would be better to make children eat more vegetables." (Causative)

Negative opinions: と思わない vs ないと思う

There are two ways to negate a thought. They differ in meaning.

ないと思う — "I think [something] is not the case."

明日 雨は 降らないと 思います。 "I think it won't rain tomorrow."

と思わない — "I don't think [something]" (stronger denial, or disagreement with the idea itself).

そうは 思いません。 "I don't think so." (Disagreeing with a proposition.)

In practice, ないと思う is far more common. Japanese speakers prefer to put the negation inside the embedded clause rather than on 思う itself. This parallels the broader Japanese preference for softening assertions.

んじゃないかと思う — hedged opinion

This is an extremely useful pattern for expressing a tentative opinion. It literally means "I think it might be the case that..." and is much softer than a direct と思う.

あの 人は 日本人なんじゃないかと 思います。 "I think that person might be Japanese."

ちょっと 高すぎるんじゃないかと 思います。 "I think it might be a bit too expensive."

もう 少し 練習した ほうが いいんじゃないかと 思います。 "I think it might be better to practice a bit more."

The pattern is: [clause in plain form] + んじゃないか + と思う. The ん is the same explanatory の you know from んです. The じゃないか adds a questioning, speculative tone. The whole expression is a gentle, hedged way of stating an opinion — and it is very common in polite Japanese conversation.

8.3 と聞いた — "I Heard That..."

The verb 聞く ("to hear / to ask," 五段) can take a と-clause to report hearsay — something you heard from someone or from a source.

来月 新しい 店が できると 聞きました。 "I heard that a new shop will open next month."

田中さんは 来年 結婚すると 聞きました。 "I heard that Tanaka will get married next year."

あの レストランは おいしいと 聞いています。 "I've heard that restaurant is good."

日本の 冬は 寒いと 聞いていましたが、思ったより 暖かかったです。 "I had heard that winter in Japan is cold, but it was warmer than I expected."

と聞いた vs と聞いている

と聞いた reports a specific instance of hearing: "I heard (at some point) that..."

と聞いている reports a current state of knowledge based on hearsay: "I have heard that..." or "I understand that..." This form implies the information is still relevant and the speaker holds it as current knowledge.

あの 大学は いい 大学だと 聞いています。 "I've heard that university is a good one." (I hold this information currently.)

に聞いた — asking someone

Be careful not to confuse と聞いた (reporting hearsay) with に聞いた (asking someone). The particle changes the meaning entirely.

田中さんに 聞きました。 — "I asked Tanaka." 田中さんが 来ると 聞きました。 — "I heard that Tanaka is coming."

8.4 と書いてある — "It Says That..."

The expression 書いてある uses the resultative てある form (the result of someone having written something, which still remains visible). With と, it reports what is written somewhere.

看板に 「立入禁止」と 書いてあります。 "The sign says 'No Entry.'"

メニューに この 料理は 辛いと 書いてあります。 "It says on the menu that this dish is spicy."

この 本に 日本語の 勉強は 毎日 する ほうが いいと 書いてありました。 "In this book, it said that it's better to study Japanese every day."

地図に 駅は ここだと 書いてあります。 "The map says the station is here."

Related expressions

と読める — "it can be read as"

この 漢字は 「やま」と 読めます。 "This kanji can be read as 'yama.'"

と書く — "to write (something)"

名前を ここに 書いてください。 "Please write your name here."

手紙に 「ありがとう」と 書きました。 "I wrote 'thank you' in the letter."

8.5 って — Casual Quotation Particle

In casual spoken Japanese, the particle と is very frequently replaced by って. This is not slang — it is standard casual speech, used by virtually all Japanese speakers in informal contexts.

田中さんは 行くって 言ってた。 "Tanaka said he's going."

明日 雨が 降るって。 "They say it's going to rain tomorrow."

それ、おいしいって 聞いた。 "I heard that's delicious."

あの 映画 おもしろかったって。 "Apparently that movie was good."

って as a standalone hearsay marker

In very casual speech, って can appear at the end of a sentence without a following verb like 言う or 聞く. When used this way, it means "I heard that..." or "they say that..." The verb of reporting is implied.

明日 テストだって。 "(I heard) there's a test tomorrow."

山田さん、来ないって。 "(They said) Yamada isn't coming."

この 店、安いって。 "(I hear) this place is cheap."

This standalone って is extremely common in daily conversation. When you hear a sentence ending in って with falling intonation, the speaker is relaying information they got from someone or somewhere else.

って as a topic marker

って can also function as a casual topic marker, roughly equivalent to は. This usage typically occurs when introducing or defining a topic.

日本語って むずかしいよね。 "Japanese (as a topic) is hard, isn't it."

納豆って 何？ "What is natto?"

This is a different function from the quotation って, but both are extremely common in casual speech. Context makes the difference clear: if って is followed by a verb of saying or thinking (or nothing at all, with hearsay meaning), it is quotation. If it is followed by a comment about the topic, it is functioning as a topic marker.

8.6 そうだ (Hearsay) — Plain Form + そうだ

The auxiliary そうだ, when attached to the plain form of a verb, adjective, or copula, expresses hearsay: "I hear that..." or "They say that..." It reports information the speaker received from an external source — a person, a news report, a book, or general rumor.

Formation

Attach そうだ directly to the plain form of the preceding word. No changes to the preceding word are needed.

Notice that for な-adjectives and nouns, the copula だ is retained before そうだ. This is important and is one of the key differences from appearance そうだ (Chapter 9).

Examples

明日 雨が 降るそうです。 "I hear it's going to rain tomorrow."

あの 映画は おもしろかったそうです。 "I heard that movie was interesting."

北海道は 冬 とても 寒いそうです。 "I hear Hokkaido is very cold in winter."

田中さんは 先生だそうです。 "I hear Tanaka is a teacher."

あの 店は もう 閉まったそうです。 "I hear that store has already closed."

この 薬は あまり 効かないそうです。 "I hear this medicine doesn't work very well."

Conjugation of そうだ

Hearsay そうだ does not conjugate extensively. It appears primarily in two forms:

• そうだ (plain) / そうです (polite) — the standard forms
• そうだが... / そうですが... — "I hear that..., but..."

It does not take な to modify nouns, and it does not take に to modify verbs. These adnominal and adverbial forms belong to appearance そうだ, covered in Chapter 9. This is one way to distinguish the two.

そうだ vs と聞いた vs って

All three express hearsay, but with different nuances:

と聞いた — implies a specific source or occasion when you heard the information.

田中さんから 聞きましたが、来月 引っ越すそうです。 "I heard from Tanaka — apparently he's moving next month."

って — casual hearsay, common in conversation.

来月 引っ越すって。 "I hear he's moving next month."

そうだ — neutral hearsay, appropriate in both casual and polite speech. Does not specify the source.

来月 引っ越すそうです。 "I hear he's moving next month."

8.7 Distinguishing Hearsay そうだ from Appearance そうだ

This section provides a brief preview. Appearance そうだ is taught fully in Chapter 9. The purpose here is to prevent confusion, since the two forms look similar but attach differently and mean different things.

The critical difference: what attaches to そうだ

Contrastive examples

雨が 降るそうだ。 (hearsay) "I hear it's going to rain." (Someone told me.)

雨が 降りそうだ。 (appearance) "It looks like it's going to rain." (The sky looks dark.)

この ケーキは おいしいそうだ。 (hearsay) "I hear this cake is delicious." (Someone told me.)

この ケーキは おいしそうだ。 (appearance) "This cake looks delicious." (It looks appetizing.)

あの 人は 親切だそうだ。 (hearsay) "I hear that person is kind." (Someone said so.)

あの 人は 親切そうだ。 (appearance) "That person looks kind." (Based on their demeanor.)

The formation difference is small — one syllable or one morpheme — but the meaning difference is large. Hearsay reports secondhand information. Appearance reports the speaker's own visual or sensory impression. Keep this distinction in mind; Chapter 9 will develop appearance そうだ fully.

8.8 Reading Passage

ニュースと うわさ

昨日 友達の 山田さんに 会いました。山田さんは いろいろな ことを 教えてくれました。

まず、山田さんは 「来月 駅の 前に 新しい レストランが できるよ」と 言いました。イタリア料理の 店だそうです。山田さんは その 店の ことを 新聞で 読んだと 言っていました。

それから、田中さんが 会社を やめたと 聞きました。田中さんは 来年 外国に 行くつもりだって。どこに 行くか まだ わからないと 言っていたそうです。

山田さんは 「最近 読んだ 本に おもしろい ことが 書いてあった」とも 言いました。その 本には 日本人は 一年に 約 十二冊の 本を 読むと 書いてあったそうです。わたしは そんなに 読まないから、もっと たくさん 読んだ ほうが いいんじゃないかと 思いました。

最後に 山田さんは 「来週 みんなで 花見に 行こう」と 言いました。天気が いいと いいなと 思います。

Translation

Yesterday I met my friend Yamada. Yamada told me various things.

First, Yamada said, "A new restaurant is opening in front of the station next month." Apparently it is an Italian restaurant. Yamada said he read about the restaurant in the newspaper.

Then I heard that Tanaka quit his company. Apparently Tanaka plans to go abroad next year. He reportedly said that he does not yet know where he will go.

Yamada also said, "There was something interesting written in a book I read recently." Apparently the book said that Japanese people read about twelve books a year. Since I don't read that many, I thought it might be a good idea to read more.

Finally, Yamada said, "Let's all go cherry-blossom viewing next week." I hope the weather will be nice.

8.9 Vocabulary List