Lesson 17
1. ～そうです
Meaning: I hear that…
Conjugation: short form + そうです (そうだ – casual)
I hear that… It looks like…
verbs 話すそうです N/A
い-adjective さびしいそうです さびしそうです
な-adjective すきだそうです すきそうです
nouns 学生だそうです N/A
We use そうです to present a “hearsay report.”
The reported speech retains its tense and mode.
Example: 日本語の授業はたのしいそうです。(I’ve heard that their Japanese class is
fun.)
先生はとてもしんせつだそうです。(I’ve heard that their professor is very kind.)
今日は授業がなかったそうです。(I’ve heard that they didn’t have classes today.)
We can also use this pattern to report on the things we’ve come to know through
people, printed matter or a broadcast. To state the source, we can use ～によると
(according to…) at the start of the sentence.
Example: 天気よほうによると台風がくるそうです。(According to the weather
forecast, a typhoon is coming.)
Note: そうです of hearsay report is invariant. We do not use its negative そうじゃない
です and past そうでした。
2. ～って
Meaning: I hear that
Conjugation: short form + って
って is similar to そうです and used in informal speech. It is the informal variant of
quotation particle と
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Example: メアリーさん、今日はいそがしいって。明日しけんがあるんだって。
(Mary said that she’s busy today. She says she has an exam tomorrow.)
You can use って in place of と before verbs like 言う.
Example: Q: あきらさんは何て言ってた。(What did Akira say?)
A: チョコレートをたべすぎたって言ってた。 (He said he ate too much chocolate.)
Notes:
1. って and と can follow long forms and particles such as か,ね and よ if your intent is
to quote verbatim and to preserve the style and tone of the original utterance.
2. って is changed to て after ん.
3. ～たら
Meaning: B is valid, contingent on the fulfilment of A
Conjugation: た-form of the predicate + ら
One of the “if…” sentences in Japanese, it talks about B being realized if and when A
condition is met.
In some cases, clauses before たら describe a possible condition and the clause after
it describe the consequence that follows it.
Example: 天気がよかったら、さんぽに行きます。(We will go for a walk if the
weather is fine.)
たからくじにあたったら、アムネステイにお金を送ります。(I will send money to
Amnesty International if I hit the lottery.)
たら sentences can also describe probable condition and the second clause describe
the event that will take place as soon as the situation is realized.
Example: 今晩家に帰ったら、電話します. (I’ll call you when I get home tonight.)
宿題がおわったら、遊びに行きましょう。(Let’s go out and have some fun once we
are done with homework.)
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たら can also describe a condition which is unreal or hypothetical.
Example: 私が猫だったら、一日中寝ているでしょう。(If I were a cat, I’d be asleep
all day long.)
お金があったら、車を買います。(If I had the money, I will buy a car.)
We cannot use たら to describe events wherein B comes before A.
Example: 来週しけんがあったら、今週の週末、勉強したほうがいいですよ。(It’s
better for you to study this weekend if you have a test next week.)
4. ～なくてもいいです
Meaning: “do not need to…”
Conjugation: ない-form (without the い) + くてもいい
Example: くつをぬがなくてもいいです。(You do not need to take off your shoes.)
プレゼントは高くなくてもいいです。(The present does not need to be expensive.)
Note: You can omit も to make it into its more casual alternative, なくていい.
5. ～みたいです
Meaning: something or somebody resembles (noun)
Conjugation: noun + みたいです
Noun + みたいです expresses that somebody or something resembles that noun.
However, it does not specify in what way does that person/thing resembles the noun
followed with みたいです.
Example:私の父はカーネルおじいさんみたいです。(My father looks like Colonel
Sanders.)
あの人はゴリラみたいです。(That person over there looks over a gorilla.)
みたいです can also follow the short form of verb and mean “appears to be the
case”.
Example: 雨が降ったみたいです。(It looks like it has rained.)
あの人はゆうべ寝なかったみたいです。(It looks like that this person didn’t sleep
last night.)
Notes:
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1. You can use みたいです about yourself, when you are unclear about the situation
you are in.
Example: 財布を忘れたみたいです。(It looks like I forgot my wallet.)
2. みたいです can also be used in adjectives, but it is more often used with ～そうで
す。
6. ～前に/～てから
Meaning: ～前に = before.../ ～てから = after…
Conjugation: present tense short form + 前に/て-form of the verb + から
前に is used to describe the event before which something happens. Take note that
regardless the tense of the sentence, the verb followed by 前に will be in present
short form.
Example: 国に帰る前に、もう一度東京に行きます。(I will go to Tokyo one more
time before I go back home.)
日本に来る前に、一学期日本語を勉強しました。(I studied one semester of
Japanese language before I came to Japan.)
てから is used to describe the event after which something happens. We use て-form of
the verb + から for this pattern.
Example: 勉強してから友だちに手紙を書きました。(I studied then wrote letters to
my friends.)
けんさんが来てから、食べましょう。(Why don’t we eat after Ken has arrived?)
Note: An A てから B sentence can also describe the state of B which holds true since A.
Example: 猫が死んでからとてもさびしいです。(I have been feeling lonely since
my cat died.)
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