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 + で言う
Details
Register Standard
使用域 一般
Information
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 格助詞(かくじょし) (case marking particle) 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)’.
  • このバイクは、車(くるま)で言(い)うとランボルギーニみたいなもの
    If we say it’s a car, this bike is something like a Lamborghini.
  • 日本(にほん)で言(い)うとパンみたいなもの?
    If we say Japan, is it something like bread? (Would this be considered bread in Japan)
  • 一言(ひとこと)で言(い)うと彼(かれ)は本当(ほんとう)凄(すご)い人(ひと)
    If said in a word, he is an amazing person.
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.
  • 「What's up」は日本語(にほんご)でいうと、「元気(げんき)」に当(あ)たる
    If said with Japanese, 'what's up' is equivalent to 'Genki'.
  • コンピューターでいうとRAMに当(あ)たる
    If we say it’s a computer, it is equivalent to Ram.
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’.
  • 一言(ひとこと)で言(い)うと彼(かれ)とはもう会(あ)わないことにした
    To sum it up, I have decided to never see him again.
Slow Male
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西暦(せいれき)の2019年(ねん)は、令和(れいわ)言(い)う元年(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.
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そのテレビは50インチです。メートル法(ほう)言(い)うおよそ127センチです。
That TV is 50 inches. This is about 127 centimeters in the metric system.
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バイナリの1001は十進数(じっしんすう)言(い)う、9に当(あ)たります。
The binary 1001 corresponds to 9 in decimal.
十進数 can also be read じゅっしんすう, especially in spoken language.
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