Passing on what you heard in Japanese: と言っていました and と思います

Level A2

Passing on what you heard in Japanese: と言っていました and と思います

By the end of this lesson, you can pass on what someone told you and keep it apart from your own opinion. The central idea is this: と言っていました (to itte imashita) passes on what someone said, and と思います (to omoimasu) gives your own opinion; in both, what comes before と is in the plain form, so 大きい (ōkii, big) and 大きかった (ōkikatta, was big) stand alone, while 本 (hon, book) and きれい (kirei, clean) take だ (da) or だった (datta). Compare レオさんは、公園はきれいだったと言っていました (Reo-san wa, kōen wa kirei datta to itte imashita), “Leo said the park was clean”, with 公園はきれいだと思います (kōen wa kirei da to omoimasu), “I think the park is clean”.

Quick review: plain forms, the past, a plan

These forms come back in this lesson, even if this is your first time seeing them. 行く (iku, go) has a plain past, 行った (itta), the form friends use: 駅に行った (eki ni itta), “I went to the station”, where 駅 is “station”. Its plain negative is 行かない (ikanai): 明日は行かない (ashita wa ikanai), “I'm not going tomorrow”. 公園は大きかったです (kōen wa ōkikatta desu), “The park was big”, and 公園はきれいでした (kōen wa kirei deshita), “The park was clean”, describe something in the past; 公園 is “park”. 来週、海に行く予定です (raishū, umi ni iku yotei desu), “The plan is to go to the beach next week”, says what is planned: 来週 is “next week”, 海 is “sea”, here “the beach”, and 予定 is “plan”. Listen and repeat.

The words: say, think and と

Two verbs and one small word do the work here. 言う (iu) is “say”. 思う (omou) is “think” in the sense of having an opinion. と (to) comes right after the content of what is said or thought: it does the job of “that” in “I think that…”, but it sits at the end of the content, not at the start. Word by word, 公園は大きいと思います is “the park is big” + と + “think”. This is not the と that joins two nouns. The other three words are known ones this lesson compares: 本 (hon, book), 大きい (ōkii, big) and きれい (kirei, clean), shown here as きれいな (kirei na).

Model: Leo talks about his weekend

Listen once without reading. Leo tells a colleague about his weekend, in the polite style. 週末 (shūmatsu) is “weekend”, 土曜日 (doyōbi) is “Saturday”, どうでしたか (dō deshita ka) is “how was it?”, and それ (sore) is “that”: the colleague is looking at what Leo has in his hand. Remember what he says, because the next sections pass it on.

What someone said: plain form + と言っていました

To pass on what someone told you, name the person with は (wa), give the content, and end with と言っていました. Verbs go in the plain form: 行きます becomes 行く, 行きません becomes 行かない, 行きました becomes 行った, 飲みません becomes 飲まない (nomanai) and 食べました becomes 食べた (tabeta). The sentence stays polite: the plain form is not friends' talk here, because the politeness sits at the end, in いました.

言っていました is 言って, the て form of 言う, plus いました (imashita), the past of the います in 食べています, “is eating”. Here it does not picture someone in the middle of speaking: it is a usual way of passing on what you were told. 言いました (iimashita) is also correct and simply states that the words were said; this lesson practises 言っていました.

The tense stays the one the speaker used. Leo's 行きました gives 行った, and his 行きます gives 行く, even where English says “he said he was going”. These reports have no 私 (watashi, I) or あなた (anata, you) after the person's name, so no word has to change for “he”. To ask, say レオさんは何と言っていましたか, where 何 is read なん (nan).

The plain form is for reporting in your own words. Words in the examples: 明日 (ashita, tomorrow), カフェ (kafe, café), コーヒー (kōhī, coffee), パン (pan, bread). で (de) marks where something happens.

レオさんは、行く／行かない／行ったと言っていました

Before と: 大きい alone, 本 and きれい with だ

Listen to the pairs: each one gives the present first and then the past. With 大きい, drop です and add nothing: 大きいです → 大きい, 大きかったです → 大きかった. With 本 and きれい, です becomes だ and でした becomes だった: 本です → 本だ, 本でした → 本だった, きれいです → きれいだ, きれいでした → きれいだった.

The reason is that 大きい and 大きかった are complete predicates, with the tense already inside them; です only adds politeness. 本 and きれい have no tense of their own, so だ or だった carries it. That is why 大きいだ and 大きかっただ are wrong. Watch out for きれい: it ends in い, but it goes with 本, not with 大きい.

The tense before と comes from Leo. English “he said it was big” can stand for both 大きいです and 大きかったです, while Japanese keeps them apart. 予定 (plan) is a noun, so it takes だ like 本: 行く予定だ. So does any noun: in the last example, 先生 (sensei) is “teacher”, テスト (tesuto) is “test” and 月曜日 (getsuyōbi) is “Monday”.

大きい／大きかった／きれいだ／きれいだった／本だ／本だったと言っていました

Your opinion: plain form + と思います

と思います uses the same forms before と: 大きいと思います, 大きかったと思います, きれいだと思います, きれいだったと思います, 本だと思います, 行くと思います. It gives your view instead of stating a fact, so it also sounds less blunt.

In these statements the one who thinks is you, even when a name comes first: レオさんは明日行くと思います is “I think Leo's going tomorrow”, not “Leo thinks”. For an opinion of Leo's, this lesson's tool is と言っていました, if he told you.

English usually puts “not” on “think”: “I don't think Leo's going”. Here the negative goes before と: 行かないと思います. With friends, end on 思う, as in the last example.

大きい／きれいだ／本だ／行くと思います

Whose words are they?

Two sentences can look alike and come from different places. レオさんは、明日行くと言っていました comes from Leo: you heard it from him. レオさんは明日行くと思います comes from you: it is your guess, and Leo may have said nothing. The same with the park: 大きかった is Leo's word, and 小さい (chiisai, small) is yours, with 私は (watashi wa) setting your view against his. When you pass something on, choose the ending by asking where the information comes from.

Model: the colleague passes it on

Listen once without reading. The colleague from the first conversation tells someone else what Leo said, then adds an opinion of their own. Compare the lines with Leo's words: 行きました, 大きかったです, きれいでした and 行く予定です all reach と in a plain form. Leo's name can be left out once it is clear who is meant. でも (demo) is “but” and そうですか (sō desu ka) is “I see”.

Your turn, and a summary

Read Leo's sentence カフェはきれいでした and pass it on before you look at the next line. Do the same with 駅に行きました. Then give your own opinion of the café with と思います.

In short: と言っていました passes on what someone told you, and と思います gives your opinion. Before と, verbs are plain (行く, 行かない, 行った), 大きい and 大きかった stand alone, and 本 and きれい take だ or だった.

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