Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 9/13

って

Casual quotation

Can replace と

Structure

Quote + って + Verb

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Particle

  • Word Type

    Case Marking Particle

  • Register

    Casual

  • 品詞

    助詞

  • 単語の種類

    格助詞

  • 使用域

    タメ語

About って

って is a casual variation of the と particle that is used for quoting something. This use is called 引用(いんよう) in Japanese, which basically translates to 'reference', or 'citation'. って is almost exclusively used after direct quotations, and will be followed by a verb indicating what type of communication was used. 言(い)った, 思(おも)った, 聞(き)いた, for example.

Just like with と, the verb that comes after って is frequently omitted. This is even more true for って, as many things are omitted in casual language.

Caution

Although often heard, due to って being very casual, it can be considered unnatural to use in sentences that also use the です or ます polite structures. However, if the conversation is formal but friendly (like between a senpai and a kouhai), most people would consider it normal.

Examples

  • 彼(かれ)は「彼女(かのじょ)は綺麗(きれい)な人(ひと)だ」って言(い)った。

    He said, 'She is a beautiful person'.

  • 先生(せんせい)は「おはよう！」って言(い)った。

    The teacher said, 'Good morning!'

  • 「明日(あした)は雨(あめ)が降(ふ)りますか」って聞(き)いた。

    I asked, 'Is it going to rain tomorrow?'

  • 彼(かれ)は「晩(ばん)ごはんを捨(す)てた」って言(い)った。

    He said, 'I threw away my dinner'.

  • 「何時(なんじ)からですか」って聞(き)いた。

    I asked, 'What time is it from?'

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って – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    Hey

    Basically, って can be considered to be the contraction of both, と particle by itself or whole と言う phrase (among others).

    So it all depends on how much speaker wants to shorten the phrase, basically preference.

    You can say お母かあさんは「危あぶない！」って, and it will be also OK.

    I hope it makes things a bit more clear,
    Cheers!

  • jomteon

    jomteon

    Ah, okay, that’s what I thought! Thanks for clearing it up

  • Pep95

    Pep95

    I’m currently reading a book in which the protagonist says, 『Stuff blah blah』て言う本. I interpret this as “A book called ‘Stuff blah blah’”, but am not sure what the grammar point would be, apart from a kind of colloquial version of this (って) colloquial version of 〜と.
    It’s a children’s book though, so I’m kind of surprised there are even any colloquialisms in there.
    Am I correct in my assumption here?

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