Structure
Noun + と言えば(1)
(1) と言うと、と言ったら
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About といえば
と言えば, と言うと, and と言ったら are all expressions that are translated quite closely to 'speaking of (A)', or 'if it were the case that (A)'. Each of these structures has a slightly different nuance, but are largely used in the same situations.
と言えば - More hypothetical, 'were it (A)'.
と言うと - More concrete, 'if it's (A)'.
と言ったら - More situational, 'when it's (A)'.
These constructions are most commonly used after nouns, in response to something that has already been mentioned in the conversation (usually by someone else). The thing that has already been said is quite often the 'trigger' for someone remembering something, causing them to interject with と言えば.
Caution
Although these phrases are used in response to something that has already been mentioned, their purpose is to change the topic of the conversation somehow (or to add new information), rather than continuing along with the same subject.
- 夏と言ったら祭りだから、明日の祭りに一緒に行かない？Speaking of summer, since it's a festival, do you want to go to the festival tomorrow?
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キクチ君といえば、幾つなんだろう？Speaking of Kikuchi-kun, I wonder how old he is.
Synonyms
Examples
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A: 「夏休み、海に行きたいわ。」
B: 「夏といえばかき氷だよね。」
A: 'I want to go to the beach during summer vacation.'
B: 'Speaking of summer, shaved ice!'
A: 「コーヒーがほしい！」
B: 「コーヒーといえば、新しい喫茶店が開店した。じゃあ、一緒に喫茶店に行こうか？」
A: 'I want coffee.'
B: 'Speaking of coffee, a new coffee shop just opened. Wanna go?'
A: 「ビットコインの評価は最近下ったみたい...。」
B: 「ビットコインといえば、今、売るべきなの？」
A: 'It looks like the value of bitcoin has recently decreased...'
B: 'Speaking of bitcoin, should I sell now?'
A：「最近、アニメは国際的に人気になっていくよ。」
B：「アニメといえばドラグーンボールの新しいシーズンが放送されているね。」
A: 'Recently anime is getting popular internationally.'
B: 'Speaking of anime, a new season of 'Dragoon ball' has aired, right?'
A：「カナダではオーロラや野生動物がよく見られるらしい。」
B：「オーロラの美しさといったら、言葉では表現できませんなあ。」
A: 'I have heard that you can see auroras and wild animals in Canada.'
B: 'Speaking of the beauty of auroras, it cannot be described with words.' (if you were to speak of...)
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といえば – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (4 in total)
mrnoone
Hey
I have seen it used like this few times, but そういえば is far more common and natural.
そういえば トム・クルツは知っているの？
Cheers
MegaZeroX
According to Edawakaru, there is a nuance to というと and といえば in that といえば can’t be used for questions about the topic while というと can. So maybe that should be added to the reading, or a Japanese Stack Exchange question answering the same thing.
Also, is there a known difference between といったら and the others?
Daru
It’s because you’re no longer guessing or setting up a conditional/hypothetical. It’s very similar to the rules used to ‘respect’ これ・それ・あれ.
The nuance between といったら・というと・といえば inherit their respective conditional’s nuance.
This very same reason is why you can’t use といえば in conversation as the resource you pointed out states, as と forebodes a 100% likely event in terms of conditional. といえば・といたら give t a softer tone as they’re less ‘definitive’ conditionals, といえば being softer.
Hope this helps! I’ve added your resource to the Grammar Point!
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