In the section about modifying relative clauses, we learned how to treat a relative clause like an adjective to directly modify a noun. We will extend the functionality of relative clauses by learning how to perform an action on a relative clause. Obviously, we cannot simply attach the \u300c\u3092\u300d particle to a relative clause because the \u300c\u3092\u300d particle only applies to noun phrases. We need something to encapsulate the relative clause into a unit that we can perform actions on. This is done by making a quoted phrase.<\/p>\n
While in English, you can just add quotes and a comma to make a quotation, Japanese requires attaching \u300c\u3068\u300d at the end of the quote. This is completely different from the \u300c\u3068\u300d particle and the \u300c\u3068\u300d conditional. Unlike quotes in English, we can perform many different types of actions on the quote besides the standard “he said”, “she said”, etc. For example, we can perform the action, “to think” or “to hear” to produce phrases such as, “I think [clause]” or “I heard [clause]” This is very important in Japanese because Japanese people seldom affirm definite statements. This is also why we will have to eventually cover many other types of grammar to express uncertainty or probability.\n<\/p>\n
We’ll learn the simplest type of quoted phrase, which is the direct quote. Basically, you are directly quoting something that was said. This is done by simply enclosing the statement in quotes, adding \u300c\u3068\u300d and then inserting the appropriate verb. The most common verbs associated with a direct quote would be \u300c\u8a00\u3046<\/span>\u300d and \u300c\u805e\u304f<\/span>\u300d but you may use any verbs related to direct quotation such as: \u300c\u53eb\u3076<\/span>\u300d, \u300c\u547c\u3076<\/span>\u300d, \u300c\u545f\u304f<\/span>\u300d, etc. This type of quotation is often used for dialogue in novels and other narrative works.<\/p>\n The verb does not need to be directly connected to the relative clause. As long as the verb that applies to the relative clause comes before any other verb, you can have any number of adjectives, adverbs or nouns in between.\n<\/p>\n The second type of quote is the quote along the lines of what someone actually said. It’s not a word-for-word quote. Since this is not a direct quote, no quotations are needed. You can also express thoughts as an interpreted quote as well. By using this and the verb \u300c\u601d\u3046<\/span>\u300d you can say you think that something is so-and-so. You will hear Japanese people use this all the time. You can also use the verb \u300c\u8003\u3048\u308b<\/span>\u300d when you are considering something.<\/p>\n In an interpreted quote, the meaning of \u300c\u8a00\u3046<\/span>\u300d may change as you see in examples 2 and 3. Actually, as you can see from the literal translation, the meaning remains the same in Japanese but changes only when translated to normal English. (We’ll learn more about various ways to use \u300c\u3044\u3046<\/span>\u300d in the next lesson.)\n<\/p>\n \nHere are some examples of thoughts being used as quoted relative clauses. In example 2 below, the question marker is used with the volitional to insert an embedded question.\n<\/p>\n \nUnlike the direct quotation, which you can just copy as is, if the quoted relative clause is a state-of-being for a noun or na-adjective, you have to explicitly include the declarative \u300c\u3060\u300d to show this.\n<\/p>\n Notice how \u300c\u3060\u300d was added to explicitly declare the state-of-being that is highlighted in the English translation. You can really see how important the \u300c\u3060\u300d is here by comparing the following two sentences.\n<\/p>\n You may be surprised to hear that there is a shorter and casual version of the quoted relative clause since it’s already only one hiragana character, \u300c\u3068\u300d. However, the important point here is that by using this casual shortcut, you can drop the rest of the sentence and hope your audience can understand everything from context.<\/p>\n \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d can also be used to talk about practically anything, not just to quote something that was said. You can hear \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d being used just about everywhere in casual speech. Most of the time it is used in place of the \u300c\u306f\u300d particle to simply bring up a topic.\n<\/p>\n In the section about modifying relative clauses, we learned how to treat a relative clause like an adjective to directly modify a noun. We will extend the functionality of relative clauses by learning how to perform an action on a relative clause. Obviously, we cannot simply attach the \u300c\u3092\u300d particle to a relative clause because … <\/p>\nExamples<\/h3>\n
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\nAlice said, “Cold”.\n<\/li>\n
\nIt is that I heard from the teacher, “There is no class today.”\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\n“Cold,” Alice said to Tanaka.\n<\/ul>\nThe interpreted quote<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
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Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nI heard from the teacher that there is no class today.\n<\/li>\n
\nWhat do you call this in Japanese? (lit: About this, what do you say in Japanese?)\n<\/li>\n
\nI am called Alice. (lit: As for me, you say Alice.)\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nI thought about setting out to eat curry but I didn’t have time to eat.\n<\/li>\n
\nNow, I’m considering where to set out to go.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nWhat did he say this is<\/em>?\n<\/li>\n
\nI heard that he is<\/em> a high school student but I can’t believe it.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nWhat did (he) say this is<\/em>?\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nWhat did (he) say?\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nUsing \u300c\u3063\u3066\u300d as a casual version of \u300c\u3068\u300d<\/h2>\n
Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
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Examples<\/h3>\n
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\nTomoko said that she’s going overseas next year.\n<\/li>\n
\nI already told you I have no money.\n<\/li>\n
\nHuh? What did you say?\n<\/li>\n
\nI heard you don’t have time now, is that true?\n<\/li>\n
\nYou don’t have time now (I heard), is that true?\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
\nAbout tomorrow, I hear that it’s going to rain.\n<\/li>\n
\nAbout Alice, she’s a very good person, right?\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"