Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 1: 13/22

によると

According to

Remember that ことによると is a set expression meaning "perhaps"!

Structure

Noun + によると(1)
Verb + ところ + によると(1)

(1) によれば

Details

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    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

About によると・によれば

によると, a combination of the case marking particle に, the う - Verb よる, and the conjunction particle と, is a phrase that is used to express that something is 'according to (A)', or 'going off (A)'. In these cases, (A) is considered to be the source of some form of information which will be conveyed in the (B) part of the sentence.
This expression will be used after nouns, or with verbs that have been paired with ところ (to indicate the 'place' where the information came from).
  • 今朝(けさ)の天気(てんき)予報(よほう)によると、今夜(こんや)から雪(ゆき)が降(ふ)るらしいですよ。
    According to the forecast, it is apparently going to start snowing from tonight.
  • 先生(せんせい)に聞(き)いたところによると、来週(らいしゅう)からオンライン授業(じゅぎょう)になるらしいよ。
    Going off of what I heard from the teacher, we are going to be taking online classes from next week.
In newspapers and in articles, the more formal によりますと variant can also regularly be seen.
  • 愛知(あいち)県警(けんけい)によりますと、犯人(はんにん)は40代(だい)の男性(だんせい)だと言(い)う事(こと)です。
    According to the Aichi Prefectural Police, the criminal is a 40 year old male.
However, this structure is not limited to using と, and the same meaning can be conveyed with with によれば. This is just よる in its conjunctive form that pairs with the conjunction particle ば.
  • 今朝(けさ)のニュースによれば、来月末(らいげつまつ)から海外(かいがい)旅行(りょこう)が出来(でき)るようになる。
    According to this morning's news, we are going to be able to travel abroad starting from the end of next month.
  • 私(わたし)が聞(き)くところによると、部長(ぶちょう)が転職(てんしょく)するそうだ。
    Going off of what I heard, the manager is going to be switching jobs.
Caution
Although によると and によれば are largely interchangeable, によると will convey a higher level of 'certainty', or 'reliability' in regard to the source of information. Due to this, によると is more likely to be used when referring to legitimate sources (police, news, etc).
  • 警視庁(けいしちょう)によると、イマダ容疑者(ようぎしゃ)は寝(ね)ている母親(ははおや)を包丁(ほうちょう)で刺(さ)していたという事(こと)です。
    According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department, Imada, the suspect, stabbed his mother who was sleeping, with a knife.
Fun Fact
よる is almost always written in hiragana alone. However, there are several different kanji that can be used to represent this verb. Each of these kanji have slightly different nuances, but they generally all represent the same 'base' meaning. This meaning is that '(B)'s foundation is (A)'. The most common kanji used for よる are as follows:
依(よ)る - (B) depends on (A)
拠(よ)る - (B) extends from (A)
因(よ)る - (B) results from (A)
由(よ)る - (B) is due to (A)

Examples

  • 天気(てんき)予報(よほう)によると明日(あした)は晴(は)れです。

    According to the weather forecast, tomorrow will be sunny.

  • 警察(けいさつ)によると、犯人(はんにん)が逃(に)げたそうです。

    According to the police, the criminal escaped.

  • 私(わたし)の母(はは)によると、毎日(まいにち)野菜(やさい)を食(た)べる必要(ひつよう)があるらしいです。

    According to my mother, it is necessary to eat vegetables every day.

  • 先輩(せんぱい)の話(はなし)によると、あの会社(かいしゃ)はブラック企業(きぎょう)らしい。

    According to what my senior said, that company is one of those 'black companies'.

    A black company refers to a company that habitually flouts labor regulations or treats its employees poorly.

  • 目撃者(もくげきしゃ)によれば、犯人(はんにん)は20代(だい)男性(だんせい)だ。

    According to the witness, the criminal is a man in his 20s.

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によると・によれば – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (17 in total)

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    About 2 years ago

    Added and fixed

    Thank you for the feedback,
    Cheers!

  • Ambo100

    Ambo100

    About 2 years ago

    It looks like there are now two links to the same resource.

  • Daru

    Daru

    About 1 year ago

    It has been fixed! Thank you for pointing it out!

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