Comments on: Beginner Lesson S4 #46 - Don’t Quote Me on This…

by: 亀井

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:16:44 +0000

双子の兄について、下山は「顔を覚えていません。。。」と言ってました。

by: wael

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 08:05:56 +0000

if i want pass massge from person to another what’s perfect phrase.
or if i want say that someone ask me to tell to someone another “somthing”
sato sensi ask me to tell to you that”somthing”
sato sensi ask me to tell yamada sensei that”somthing”
sato sensi ask yamada sensei to tell me that”somthing”
how i can say that

by: Motoko

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:47:34 +0000

weal-san,
Sorry for my confusing examples.
How about thinking like this;
When you are talking about what you say before, you use “to iimasu/iimashita”
When you are talking about what someone say before, you use “to itte imasu/imashita”
ex)
In the morning, you said “Ohayo gozaimasu” but sensei said “kon’nichiwa.”
You can say
“Watashi wa “Ohayo gozaimasu” to iimashita.”
,and also “Sensei wa “Kon’nichiwa” to itte imashita.”
This usage is a basic idea of the difference between them.

If it is clear for you, let’s go to the next step.
This is an exception I told you before that you can use “to iimasu/iimashita” for third person’s comment.
But please note that this usage is often used in writing, like in a novel.
When you describe what someone says in a novel, you can use “to iimasu/iimashita.”
I hope this brings you a clear idea.

by: weal5300

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:32:08 +0000

sorry it’s more complicated for me when use “to iimashita ” for third person
instead of “to itte imashita “or “to itte imasu”
sensei wa watashi ni “ohayou gozaimasu” to iimashita.
sensei wa watashi ni “ohayou gozaimasu” to itte imashita.
so mybe to solve this problem i suggest when i’m the speaker i use “to imasu or to imashita”
when third person is speaker use “to iimashita or to itte imashita or itte imasu”
i’m right
if i’m right
i can use this Structure for any verb like “kiku- to ask,kotaeru -to answer”

by: Motoko

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:33:48 +0000

weak5300-san,
Don’t worry about it because you can ask us as many questions as you need.
This page, comment space, is made for Q&A.
We welcome your any questions
So, I finally understand your confuse.
That “to iimashita” is different from “to itte imasu.”
As I mentioned in the previous comment, that “iimashita” is for describing the action and you’ll see lots of “iimashita” for others in novels.
“to itte imasu” which is covered in this lesson is used when you quote someone’s talk.
ex) Describing;
カーミットは「晩ごはんにちょうちょが食べたい」といいました。でもちょうちょが見つかりませんでした。
Karmit said “I want to eat butterflies for dinner！” but he couldn’t find them.
Quoting;
ピギーさん　「カーミットさんは”晩ごはんにちょうちょが食べたい”と言っていました。」
Miss　Piggy;　”Karmit said that “I want to eat butterflies for dinner!”.”
I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask questions

by: weak5300

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 03:43:49 +0000

thank very much… Motoko sensei.
the Confusing is here .because at this sentence
tarou wa ohayou gozaimasu to iimashita
so why here use “to iimashita” instead of “to itte imashita “or “to itte imasu”
and this sentence true or wrong.
I apologize for the large number of my questions

by: Motoko

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:24:38 +0000

wael-san,
I apologize my confusing answer.
As you said in the third last comment, we use iimasu/iimashita for what the speaker says and itte imasu/ itte imashita when we quote what the other people say.

whose comment? mine other pepople’s
——————————————————————————-
present(say/s) to iimasu to itte imasu
past (said) to iimashita to itte imashita

You can see “to iimasu” when the speaker describes someone’s talk, mainly in novels, but we basically use “to iimasu” for ourselves and “to itte imasu” for others’ comments.
The relationship is the same even when these verbs become past forms.
Please feel free to ask me again, if it is not clear

by: wael

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:54:31 +0000

if i use “to iimasu” to refer to I Say something
so why “to iimashita” can be use as someone said
and that mean the past of “to iimasu” and “iiteimasu” they are use when talk about someone’s said and to “itteimasu ” use whenuse when talk about someone’s says somthing

by: Motoko

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 02:00:26 +0000

wael-san,
itte imasu is the present/non-past form and itte imashita is past form so facts which each form describes would be different depending on the situation.
ex) Rajio wa taifuu ga kuru to itteimasu.
The radio says that a tayphoon is coming.(Fact: A typhoon is coming.)

Rajio wa taifuu ga kuru to itteimashita.
The radio said that a typhoon was coming.
(Fact: A typhoon was coming but it might have gone somewhere else.)
When we talk about someone’s conversation/comments, we use “itte imasu” because we cannot directly speak for someone else.
Instead, we use quoting”itte imasu” in Japanese.
For ourselves, we use “iimasu” and “iimashita.”
ex) Watashi ga/wa taifuu ga kuru to iimashita.
I said that a typhoon is coming.
I hope this helps.

by: wael

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:48:15 +0000

if we use
Subject wa +++++++to itte imashita
To what someone else has said

what different about to itte imasu and to itte imashita
rajio wa taifuu ga kuru to itteimasu
and that mean i must use “verb”+”te iru” when someone said or says something
but i Can’t use “verb”+”te iru” to mean I Said or I say
beacuse it just for third person
and use to iimasu and to iimashita to refer to what i say or said

by: Naomi

Mon, 02 May 2011 02:05:24 +0000

Robin-san
Unfortunately, you can’t apply this usage to 頼む

“Person A asked Person B to do something” would be ように言う or ように頼む.
Your sentence should be 母は僕に部屋を掃除するように言いました or 頼みました。
This grammar is covered in Lower Intermediate season 2 Lesson 12 and season 4 Lesson 13.
So please check those lessons.

by: Robin

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:41:26 +0000

こんにちわ、
Is the usage of と言っていました　restricted to this pattern or can I use verbs like 頼む　as well? And thus obtain something like:
母は僕の部屋を掃除すると頼んでいました。

正しいですか？

答えることがありがとうございます

by: Naomi

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 01:08:14 +0000

チィ -san
正しいですよ。　That’s a correct sentence!

However it’s unlikely that the husband uses polite form to his own wife… (Well…at least among the people around me. ) so maybe 主人は「来年、日本に行こう！」といっていました sounds more natural.

by: チィ

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:42:34 +0000

この文法は手伝いますよね。
今日、主人は「来年、日本に行きましょう！！」と言っていました。

by: Mayumi

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:31:12 +0000

Tako-san,

Naomi先生のような、やさしい声のお母さんは、多分、いないと思います！
I think there is no mothers who are speaking in such a gentle voice as Naomi-sensei.!