とQuotation

Structure

(Quotation) Phrase + と + Verb^(*)

Verb + と + Verb^(*)
［い］Adjective + と + Verb^(*)
［な］Adjective + (だ) + と + Verb^(*)
Noun + (だ) + と + Verb^(*)

^(*) Verbs like 言(い)う、聞(き)く、思(おも)う、考(かんが)える、仮定(かてい)する and the like are used

Details

Part of Speech
Particle
Word Type
Case Marking Particle
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Standard

About と

One of the regular functions of と in Japanese is as a quotation particle. This use is called 引用(いんよう) in Japanese, which basically translates as 'reference', or 'citation'. This way of using と can appear after almost any type of word (or phrase), but requires だ when used after nouns or な-Adjectives.

と as a quotation marker will almost always be followed by a verb that shows what type of 'quote' it is. This can be words like 言(い)う, 思(おも)う, 考(かんが)える, 聞(き)く, etc. However, at the end of a sentence, the verb will often be omitted.

As with other instances of the particle と being used, this use simply expresses the relationship between (A) 'what was communicated', and (B) 'how it was communicated'.

Examples

--:--

彼(かれ)はとても親切(しんせつ)だと聞(き)きました。

I heard that he is very friendly.

「彼(かれ)はここに来(き)ますか」と聞(き)いた。

I asked, 'Is he coming here?' (asked)

「晩(ばん)ごはんを作(つく)った」と言(い)った。

I said, 'I made dinner'.

「重(おも)いですか」と聞(き)きました。

He asked, 'Is it heavy?'

先生(せんせい)が「危(あぶ)ない」と書(か)いた。

The teacher wrote, 'It is dangerous'.

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と – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (23 in total)

Jake
Quotation
Structure
- Quote + と + Verb
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d11
I’m confused by the hint text for these. For example the prompt is “said [polite quotation]”, but the correct answer is

「晩ごはんを作った」 と言った 。

How is 言った polite? It looks plain/casual to me. I would have thought the correct answer for “polite quotation” would be

「晩ごはんを作った」 と言ました 。

Looking forward to finding out what I’m missing
seanblue
*言いました

I think what they probably meant is that you should answer with と instead of って, which is a colloquial version of と. You could replace と言った with って言った or even just って.

“Polite” is definitely misleading though, so hopefully they can clear it up.
mrnoone
@seanblue @d11

I have changed the hint to “[quotation marker]”, but I am not sure if it is not too much of a hint.

What are your opinions as users?
d11
Would it be grammatically accurate to allow と言ました as an alternate answer?
mrnoone
Yes, the difference will be only in level on politeness.

By the way, it is already allowed
d11
Huh, I thought I tried it and failed, leading me here. I must have got something else wrong, oh well!

As for [quotation marker] vs. [polite quotation], they seem pretty similar levels of hints to me, so I am happy with the change.
seanblue
@d11 Based on your kanji usage here, you may have failed because you typed といました instead of といいました.

@mrnoone Similar to the other particle discussion we had last week, I would minimize what is said. I think it’s better to try a couple times and getting warnings than to have the answer given away. In this case I think saying “quotation marker” is fine, but is it necessary to say anything given that the English has text in quotes?

P.S. I think the English translations for all the sentences should use double quote, not single quote (at least this is the standard in American English).
mrnoone
I thought about it too, maybe “quotation” alone or nothing since quotes are already there.
seanblue
Maybe if you also makes the quotes in the English yellow it will be obvious without putting anything else.
rawrdinosaur
screenshots

Screen Shot 2019-02-24 at 11.15.41 PM.png<...
mrnoone
Hey

Great suggestion!
I changed hint to "casual verb/polite verb・quotation marker], so it should be a bit more clear now.
What is your opinion?
deltacat3

「綺麗じゃなかった」とかれは言いました。
He said, ‘It wasn’t beautiful.’

This alternate grammar option ↑ has the topic placed after the quotation marker. My question being, is this common and are there any rules about where the topic can be placed in a sentence?
Pushindawood
@deltacat3

My question being, is this common and are there any rules about where the topic can be placed in a sentence?

The rule is that there are no rules (mostly)! As long as a word has a particle attached to it to define its function, it can pretty much be placed anywhere in the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. Tae Kim has a great post about this that will give you a much better idea of how Japanese sentences are constructed and how flexible they can be. Cheers!
deltacat3
Thank you! @Pushindawood

That article has left me feeling like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders!
motheblackcat
A little question about this example:

[regular quotation + polite verb]
子供が「野菜が好きです」と言いました。[言う]
The child said, ‘I like vegetables’.

The alternate answer is と言っていました

What is the difference between using the past tense and て+ past tense form here?

Thanks (and sorry for bump)!
aciucci79
hi there!
what’s the と in this example sentence? it doesn’t seem to be acting as a quotation marker, it’s driving me mental
毎日ゴルフの練習をしたらだんだんと上手くなっていく
IcyIceBear
the と here is paired with the adverb use of onomatopoeia だんだん. It often follows them, so if you look at examples of others you’ll get the hang of when to use it
aciucci79
I see I guess it can be omitted in casual speech, I’ll look up more examples, thanks!
MikkaT
Hi,

i’d like to know what the と actually does in these example sentences.

あれはねこだとおもう。

ふじさんはきれいだとおもう？

What kind of quotation is that?