Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 6: 24/24

で言(い)うとIn, Of, According to

Lit. “if you were to say... in (terms of)/as”

Structure

Noun + で言(い)うと

Details

  • Standard

About で言うと

でいうと is an expression in Japanese that is commonly used to ask questions, or to give information about how one thing corresponds with another. It is a combination of the case marking particle で meaning 'with', and 言(い)うと meaning 'if said', or 'if we say'.

This structure will be seen after nouns, and can be translated as 'if said with (A), (B)'.

でいうと will often be seen in sentences with に当(あ)たる 'to be equivalent to', another common grammar structure used for drawing connections between things.

Fun Fact

一言(ひとこと)で言(い)うと is a set expression that means 'to put it in a word', 'in short', or 'to sum up'.

Related

Examples

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  • 統計(とうけい)で言(い)うと、客(きゃく)の７０(ななじゅっ)％(パーセント)が観光客(かんこうきゃく)だ。

    According to statistics, 70% of customers are tourists. (speaking of)

  • 西暦(せいれき)の２０１９年(ねん)は、令和(れいわ)で言(い)うと元年(がんねん)に当(あ)たります。

    The year 2019, on the western calendar, corresponds to the first year of Reiwa. [in terms of]

    • この年(とし)をとっていそうな猫(ねこ)は人間(にんげん)の年齢(ねんれい)で言(い)うと８４(はちじゅうよん)歳(さい)ぐらいです。

      This old-looking cat is about 84 years old in human years. (in terms of)

    • つまり、「hmmm」は日本語(にほんご)で言(い)うと「うーん」に当(あ)たります。

      To sum up, 'Hmm' corresponds to 'うーん' in Japanese. (in terms of)

    • わかりやすい言葉(ことば)で言(い)うと俺(おれ)は上司(じょうし)だが、君(きみ)は部下(ぶか)だ。

      To put it in simple words, I am the superior and you are the subordinate. (in terms of)

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    で言うと – Grammar Discussion

    Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

    • homa

      homa

    • qazrt

      qazrt

      I thought this sentence was bizarre as well. However, it makes sense: for example, for humans, the short-term memory is like, in computer terms, like RAM.

      Maybe the Bunpro master should add more context?

    • homa

      homa

      Oh, that’s smart!

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