タグ: hearsay

Again, the sentence construction of the day also uses the particle “-to”. The construction is;

1. [Subject ] wa [Clause] to Itte Imashita.

where, [Clause] is what the subject said. The end of the clause usually takes the short ending form.

The construction 1 ends with “Itte imashita.”. Not only this “Itte imashita.”, but “Itte imasu.” and “Iimashita” are also likely to be used. How these three are different each other? Let’s examine these three patterns of sentence ending.

2. Satou-san wa Ashita no Asa Ku-ji ni Kuru to Iimashita. (Sato-san said she would come (here) at 9 tomorrow morning.)

This is simply saying that Sato-san said something at one moment in the past. It is not sure that Sato-san really comes tomorrow, because what Sato-san said is valid at that moment only.

3. Satou-san wa Ashita no Asa Ku-ji ni Kuru to Itte imasu. (Sato-san is saying she will come at 9 tomorrow morning.)

The sentence 3 indicates what Sato-san said has been valid since she said it. Although it is not sure what time this sentence 3 is being said, her coming at 9a.m. tomorrow is valid at the time of utterance of the sentence 3. Actually, it sounds like the speaker is insisting what Sato-san said is valid.

4. Satou-san wa Ashita no Asa Ku-ji ni Kuru to Itte imashita. (I heard that Sato-san was saying she would come at 9 tomorrow morning.)

The sentence 4 sounds like a kind of hearsay. The speaker of the sentence 4 was there, and heard what Sato-san was saying. It is not sure how many hours later, but the speaker says what he/she heard from Sato-san. Probably what Sato-san said is still valid, but the speaker is not responsible for her really coming at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

The exercise A5 adopts “Itte Imashita.”.

<INCOMPLETE!>

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This post was written with reference to the exercise A5 on Section33 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”