Saying and quoting with と言います

～と言います ~to iimasu Say that

と言います reports what someone said. と works like quotation marks. It also asks how to say a word and gives your name.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: Linking ideas
English links: reported speech, say and tell, tense shift

What it means

と言います means "say". The と comes right after the words that were said, so it works like quotation marks. 生徒は「おはようございます」と言いました. The student said "Good morning".

You can also report the idea without the exact words. Put the plain form, the short form without ます, before と: 田中さんは明日来ないと言いました. Tanaka-san said he isn't coming tomorrow. Notice the tense. Japanese keeps the tense the speaker used.

Two set phrases are worth learning first. これは日本語で何と言いますか asks "How do you say this in Japanese?" And スミスと言います is a polite way to give your name. I still use the first one every week in the staff room.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
「quote」と言います "quote" to iimasu	The exact words, in 「」. と closes the quote.
Plain form + と言いました plain form + to iimashita	来ない → 来ないと言いました. Reports the idea, keeps the original tense.
Noun + で何と言いますか noun + de nan to iimasu ka	日本語で何と言いますか. How do you say it in Japanese?
Name + と言います name + to iimasu	My name is... A little more polite than です.

Examples

生徒は「おはようございます」と言いました。 seito wa "ohayou gozaimasu" to iimashita. The student said "Good morning".
これは日本語で何と言いますか。 kore wa nihongo de nan to iimasu ka. How do you say this in Japanese?
田中さんは明日来ないと言いました。 tanaka-san wa ashita konai to iimashita. Tanaka-san said he wasn't coming tomorrow.
先生は「宿題を出してください」と言いました。 sensei wa "shukudai o dashite kudasai" to iimashita. The teacher said, "Please hand in your homework."
スミスと言います。よろしくお願いします。 sumisu to iimasu. yoroshiku onegai shimasu. My name is Smith. Nice to meet you.

How English says it

English reports speech with "say" and "tell". "Say" takes the words: "He said that he was busy." "Tell" takes the person: "He told me that he was busy." Japanese 言う covers both, and it also overlaps with "speak" and "talk".

In reported speech, English often moves the verb back in time. 来ないと言いました becomes "He said he wasn't coming", not "He said he isn't coming", though the second is fine if it is still true. And 何と言いますか is "how", not "what": "How do you say this in English?"

Why it can make English hard

言う is one verb, but English has say, tell, speak and talk. Many students say "He said me" because 私に言いました has a person in it.
Japanese keeps the speaker's tense inside the quote. Some learners never shift the tense back in English reported speech.
何と言いますか has 何 (what), so students often ask "What do you say this in English?"

Mistakes you will hear

He said me that he is busy. He told me that he was busy. "Say" does not take a person straight after it. Use "tell me", or "said to me".
What do you say this in English? How do you say this in English? 何と言いますか uses "what", but English asks "how".
I say Kenji. My name is Kenji. 健二と言います translated word by word. English uses "My name is" or "I'm".

In the classroom

Put "How do you say ... in English?" on the classroom wall and insist on it all year. It is the most useful sentence a student can have.
Play a whisper game. One student tells a partner a short message, the partner reports it to the class: "Yuki said she was hungry." Point out the tense shift.
Make a quick say or tell chart: say + words, tell + person. Students sort ten sentences into the two columns.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Fill the gap: 「ありがとう」＿言いました。 (I said "thank you".)

Answer: と

と closes the quote, like quotation marks.
2. Translate: これは英語で何と言いますか。

Answer: How do you say this in English?

English asks "how", not "what", for this question.
3. A student writes "She said me she is tired." Fix it.

Answer: She told me she was tired.

Use "tell" with a person, and shift the tense back in reported speech.
4. Translate: 田中さんは明日来ないと言いました。

Answer: Tanaka-san said he wasn't coming tomorrow.

Japanese keeps 来ない, but English usually moves it back to "wasn't coming".