Learn about reporting what someone else has said
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: 直美です。 (Naomidesu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Don’t Quote me in Japanese on This. In this lesson, you learn how to report what someone else was saying using |
| Naomi: と、言っていました (To, itte imashita) or て、言っていました。 (Te, itte imashita.) |
| Peter: Was saying. This conversation takes place at |
| Naomi: 韓国料理屋 (Kankokuryōriya) |
| Peter: A Korean restaurant. The conversation is between? |
| Naomi: 下山新さんと上司。(Shimoyama Shin-san to jōshi) |
| Peter: Mr. Shin Shimoyama and his boss. |
| Naomi: お昼ごはんを食べていますね。 (Ohiru gohan o tabete imasu ne.) |
| Peter: And they are having lunch. The boss uses informal Japanese and Mr. Shimoyama uses |
| Naomi: Formal Japanese. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 双子のお兄さん? (Futago no o-niisan?) |
| 下山 (Gezan): ええ。もう、顔を覚えていませんが・・・。 (Ee. Mō, kao o oboete imasen ga....) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 顔は・・・同じじゃない? (Kao wa... onaji janai?) |
| 下山 (Gezan): いや、それが、母は僕たちは似ていなかったと言っていました。 (Iya, sore ga, haha wa boku-tachi wa nite inakatta to itte imashita.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): へぇー。あ、そういえば、三門、「下山は、夜六本木でアルバイトをしています。クビにしてください。」って言っていたぞ。 (Heē. A, sō ieba, Mikado,(Shimoyama wa, yoru Roppongi de arubaito o shite imasu. Kubi ni shite kudasai.) tte itte ita zo.) |
| 下山 (Gezan): 三門ねぇ・・・ (Mikado nee…) そういえば、三門と左さんは付き合ってますよね。 (sōieba, Mikado to Hidari-san wa tsukiatte masu yo ne.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): でも、左君は三門は友達で彼氏じゃないと言っていたよ。 (Demo, Hidari-kun wa Mikado wa tomodachi de kareshi ja nai to itteita yo.) |
| もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。(Mōichido, onegaishimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegaishimasu.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 双子のお兄さん? (Futago no o-niisan?) |
| 下山 (Gezan): ええ。もう、顔を覚えていませんが・・・。 (Ee. Mō, kao o oboete imasen ga....) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 顔は・・・同じじゃない? (Kao wa... onaji janai?) |
| 下山 (Gezan): いや、それが、母は僕たちは似ていなかったと言っていました。 (Iya, sore ga, haha wa boku-tachi wa nite inakatta to itte imashita.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): へぇー。あ、そういえば、三門、「下山は、夜六本木でアルバイトをしています。クビにしてください。」って言っていたぞ。 (Heē. A, sō ieba, Mikado,(Shimoyama wa, yoru Roppongi de arubaito o shite imasu. Kubi ni shite kudasai.) tte itte ita zo.) |
| 下山(Gezan): 三門ねぇ・・・ (Mikado nee…) そういえば、三門と左さんは付き合ってますよね。 (sōieba, Mikado to Hidari-san wa tsukiatte masu yo ne.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): でも、左君は三門は友達で彼氏じゃないと言っていたよ。 (Demo, Hidari-kun wa Mikado wa tomodachi de kareshi ja nai to itteita yo.) |
| 今度は、英語が入ります。 (Kondo wa, eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 双子のお兄さん? (Futago no o-niisan?) |
| SUPERIOR : A twin brother? |
| 下山 (Gezan): ええ。もう、顔を覚えていませんが・・・。 (Ee. Mō, kao o oboete imasen ga....) |
| SHIMOYAMA : Yes. I can’t remember his face anymore though... |
| 上司 (Jōshi): 顔は・・・同じじゃない? (Kao wa... onaji janai?) |
| SUPERIOR : His face... But you were twins right? |
| 下山 (Gezan): いや、それが、母は僕たちは似ていなかったと言っていました。 (Iya, sore ga, haha wa boku-tachi wa nite inakatta to itte imashita.) |
| SHIMOYAMA : Oh yes, but my mother said that we looked nothing alike. |
| 上司 (Jōshi): へぇー。あ、そういえば、三門、「下山は、夜六本木でアルバイトをしています。クビにしてください。」って言っていたぞ。 (Heē. A, sō ieba, Mikado,(Shimoyama wa, yoru Roppongi de arubaito o shite imasu. Kubi ni shite kudasai.) tte itte ita zo.) |
| SUPERIOR : Huh... Oh hey, that reminds me - Mikado told me, “Shimoyama is doing a part time job in Roppongi at nights. You should fire him.” |
| 下山 (Gezan): 三門ねぇ・・・(Mikado nee…) そういえば、三門と左さんは付き合ってますよね。 (sōieba, Mikado to Hidari-san wa tsukiatte masu yo ne.) |
| SHIMOYAMA : Ah yes, Mikado... By the way, Mikado and Ms. Hidari are dating, aren’t they? |
| 上司 (Jōshi): でも、左君は三門は友達で彼氏じゃないと言っていたよ。 (Demo, Hidari-kun wa Mikado wa tomodachi de kareshi ja nai to itteita yo.) |
| SUPERIOR : Well, Ms. Hidari said that Mr. Mikado is just a friend. He’s not my boyfriend. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Naomi: 全然似てない双子のお兄さん。(Zenzen ni tenai futago no onīsan.) |
| Peter: So Shin had a twin brother but they don’t look like each other どうしてでしょうね. (Dōshitedeshou ne.) I think Mitsuru Mikado is up to something right? |
| Naomi: ああ、三門満さんですね。上司にレポートしてますからね。 (Ā, Mikado Mitsuru-sandesu ne. Jōshi ni repōto shitemasukara ne.) He was saying クビにしてください。(Kubi ni shite kudasai.) |
| Peter: Please fire him. |
| Naomi: すごいね。汚いですよね。(Sugoi ne. Kitanaidesu yo ne.) |
| Peter: Business is a nasty world. |
| Naomi: Nasty…That’s why you are doing the business. ね。だからビジネスをしてます。 (Ne. Dakara bijinesu o shitemasu.) |
| Peter: And that’s why 付き合ってくれていますね。 (Tsukiatte kurete imasu ne.) and that’s why you are doing it together with me Naomi Sensei. |
| Naomi: Umm… |
| Peter: So this kind of stems from what we are just talking about. So I want to point out one word here and the difference in the way of thinking. So in English, we would say business is a nasty… |
| Naomi: ああ、はいはい。 (Ā, hai hai.) |
| Peter: Kind of cutthroat place. In Japanese, we use the word |
| Naomi: 汚い (Kitanai) |
| Peter: Which is dirty and in English, sometimes we will also do it too. It’s a very dirty business. |
| Naomi: Dirty business. |
| Peter: Politics is a dirty business. So you can maybe make that kind of – use that as a pneumatic to remember that in Japanese when you want to say, you are not playing fair or you know, that’s kind of blow the belt 汚い。(Kitanai) |
| Naomi: 汚い人だなぁ。 (Kitanai hitoda nā.) |
| Peter: So he plays rough or he is dirty |
| Naomi: Like physically. |
| Peter: But dirty as in he doesn’t play fair or it’s a tough business. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) When people are watching the sports game, they use this word あ、今のプレイ汚いよ！ (A, ima no purei kitanai yo!) |
| Peter: Also before we take a look at the vocab, there is also one more very useful phrase そういえば (Sō ieba) |
| Naomi: Ah by the way. |
| Peter: Yeah now according to Rikaichan which everybody should have and if you don’t, visit our website and find out more about Rikaichan. We have a nice video tutorial on how to install it. So according to Rikaichan, this expression means, which reminds me or on the subject or speaking of that but as Naomi translated by saying そういえば (Sō ieba), you can completely change the topic. |
| Naomi: そうですね。便利だと思います。 (Sōdesu ne. Benrida to omoimasu.) |
| Peter: Yeah I think a pretty good literal translation is like, if you say that or speaking of that, something, something, something. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: What do we have first? |
| Naomi: 双子 (futago) |
| Peter: Twins. |
| Naomi: (slow)ふたご (Futa go) (natural speed) 双子 (futago) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: 似ている (nite iru) |
| Peter: Look like. |
| Naomi: (slow)にている (Nite iru) (natural speed) 似ている (nite iru) |
| Peter: Next. |
| Naomi: アルバイト (arubaito) |
| Peter: Part time job. |
| Naomi: (slow)アルバイト (arubaito) (natural speed) アルバイト (arubaito) |
| Peter: Next |
| Naomi: クビにする (kubi ni suru) |
| Peter: To fire. |
| Naomi: (slow)クビにする (Kubi ni suru) (natural speed) クビにする (Kubi ni suru) |
| Peter: And last we have. |
| Naomi: そういえば (Sō ieba) |
| Peter: Which reminds me, on that subject. |
| Naomi: (slow)そういえば (Sō ieba) (natural speed) そういえば (Sō ieba) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Naomi sensei, what’s the first phrase we will look at? |
| Naomi: クビにする (Kubi ni suru) |
| Peter: To fire someone. Now 首 (Kubi) means neck but it also means deposition or dismissal. Now the grammar behind クビにする (Kubi ni suru) is very complicated. So we recommend that you remember it as a set phrase. Naomi sensei, can we have a sample sentence? |
| Naomi: ピーターは直美をクビにした。 (Pītā wa Naomi o kubi ni shita.) |
| Peter: Peter fired Naomi. |
| Naomi: 怖いですね。 (Kowaidesu ne.) |
| Peter: What’s interesting here though is the person is marked by the object marker. |
| Naomi: そうです。 (Sōdesu.) |
| Peter: So you could tell it’s an idiomatic phrase. You are not literally taking her neck or back from the samurai’s days, actually the head. So クビにする (Kubi ni suru) is actually to take the head. |
| Naomi: そうなのかな。 (Sōna no ka na.) |
| Peter: So this sentence literally is Peter takes Naomi’s head but of course it means Peter fired Naomi. |
| Naomi: 怖い怖い。 (Kowaikowai.) Probably I have to look for a lawyer and アルバイト (Arubaito) |
| Peter: That is our next word. |
| Naomi: そうですね。アルバイト。 (Sōdesu ne. Arubaito.) |
| Peter: Part time job and actually the shorter version is more commonly used. That is |
| Naomi: バイト。 (Baito.) When する (Suru) or をする (O suru) follows バイト (Baito), it becomes a verb. バイトする (Baito suru)、バイトをする (Baito o suru) or アルバイトをする、アルバイトする。 (Arubaito o suru, arubaito suru.) |
| Peter: To have a part time job or to work a part time job. Now many of these loan words, the loan words taken from another language and then used in Japanese come from English, however this one comes from German. |
| Naomi: そう。ドイツ語なんですよね。 (Sō. Doitsugona ndesu yo ne.) |
| Peter: The last phrase is |
| Naomi: 似ている (Nite iru) |
| Peter: Look like, similar. Now actually this phrase is the present progressive form of the verb |
| Naomi: 似る (Niru) |
| Peter: To resemble or to be similar. Now again we recommend you remember this as a set phrase. Naomi sense, how do you use the word? |
| Naomi: There are several patterns but the easiest way is something と (To) something は似ている (Wa nite iru). For example, 晴夜さんと新さんは似ている。 (Seiya-san to shin-san wa nite iru.) |
| Peter: Haruya and Shin look alike. Now here we used it for looks but again this is very contextual. It could be personalities, it could be appearance, it could be the way you talk. So from context, you have to judge what they are actually talking about. |
| Naomi: そうですね。例えば (Sōdesu ne. Tatoeba) For example ピーターとゆういちは似ている。 (Pītā to yū ichi wa nite iru.) |
| Peter: And you can tell it here from the context Yuichi is a teacher on her intermediate series, a native Japanese speaker. So we don’t physically resemble each other but I think the way we joke and our humor is kind of similar. |
| Naomi: そうかな。 (Sō ka na.) |
| Peter: But you could tell from the context that we are not talking about physical features or attributes. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) |
| Peter: On to the grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: The focus of this lesson is reported speech. Now, this is extremely useful. You will talk about how to report what someone else has said. |
| Naomi: と言っていました (To itte imashita) |
| Peter: Was saying. Now this phrase is composed of te form of the verb |
| Naomi: 言う (Iu) |
| Peter: “To say,” plus |
| Naomi: いました (Imashita) |
| Peter: So 言って (Itte) plus |
| Naomi: いました (Imashita) |
| Peter: 言っていました (Itte imashita) Now this is the polite past progressive. |
| Naomi: 言っていました (Itte imashita) means what saying. |
| Peter: Now a lot of times we get into these very technical grammatical explanations but think about this expression. It’s literally translated as was saying. John was saying. Susan was saying, my mother was saying. This is something we use all the time. So it’s going to be very, very useful. Couple of major differences from English but let’s take a look at them right now. Can we have a sample sentence from the dialogue? |
| Naomi: 母は僕達は似ていなかったと言っていました。 (Haha wa bokutachi wa nite inakatta to itte imashita.) |
| Peter: My mother was saying that we were not alike at all. |
| Naomi: 母は (Haha wa) |
| Peter: Mother plus topic marking particle. |
| Naomi: 僕達は似ていなかった (Bokutachi wa nite inakatta) |
| Peter: We are not alike at all. |
| Naomi: と (To) |
| Peter: Quotation particle. |
| Naomi: 言っていました (Itte imashita) |
| Peter: Was saying. So literally, mother, we were not alike at all was saying. Of course, it means that my mother was saying that we are not alike at all. So when you have a sentence with the quotation marking particle, many times for this particular level and this is a rule of thumb not applicable every single time but you can usually find that who is saying something or who is thinking something by looking at the beginning of the sentence. So you kind of zone your eyes out and you see mother at the beginning. Then at the end of the sentence, you can see と言っていました (To itte imashita). So you can realize that mother was saying and then you look at the inside part to kind of figure out who is actually talking about what. Now to convey what someone else has said, we take the subject optional, their indirect quote, attach the quote marker と (To) and the phrase |
| Naomi: 言っていました (Itte imashita) |
| Peter: So let’s practice this sentence pattern with some examples. How do you say, it will rain tomorrow or it’s going to rain tomorrow. |
| Naomi: 明日、雨が降る (Ashita, amegafuru) |
| Peter: So we have tomorrow it will rain. How about, mother was saying it would rain tomorrow. |
| Naomi: 母は明日雨が降ると言っていました。 (Haha wa ashita amegafuru to itte imashita.) |
| Peter: So you take the original sentence 明日雨が降る (Ashita amegafuru). Before that, you put |
| Naomi: 母は (Haha wa) |
| Peter: Mother followed by |
| Naomi: 明日雨が降る (Ashita amegafuru) |
| Peter: And we follow that with |
| Naomi: と言っていました。 (To itte imashita.) |
| Peter: Mother was saying it will rain tomorrow. Now Naomi Sensei |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: For those of you who don’t know, Naomi Sensei also appears in englishpod101.com. Now englishpod101.com is a site for Japanese learners of English. So Japanese people studying English. |
| Naomi: はい。 (Hai.) |
| Peter: So Yuichi was saying |
| Naomi: うん。なに？ (Un. Nani?) |
| Peter: That he really likes your voice. ゆういち先生は直美の声が好きと言っていました。(Yū ichi sensei wa Naomi no koe ga suki to itte imashita.) So Yuichi was saying he really likes your voice. |
| Naomi: 嘘でしょ。(Usodesho.) |
| Peter: Yes it’s not really true but this was just an example to illustrate what we were talking about today. So I was taking something that was said and then talking about that. So when you want to talk about something you heard, reporting speech, this と言ってました (To ittemashita) is very useful. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sōdesu ne.) |
Outro |
| Peter: That’s going to do it. |
| Naomi: じゃあ、また。 (Jā, mata.) |
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