What's new

~んだって

raikado

先輩
29 Oct 2012
523
21
33
Hello,

I've included an image at the bottom to make it clear what the post is about. So, I understand that ~んだって is used to indicate "hearsay", but I am unsure about the purpose of ~んだ in this construction. Does it indicate an explanation? If so, does ~んだって mean that you are quoting what someone/something else has explained?

I know I've asked something similar to this before (LINK). To me, the fact that in "んだって," "んだ" is part of the quoted speech implies that you are quoting what someone/something else has explained. But I would like a confirmation on this, since at that time, for some reason, I asked it in that incomplete way :(.

Cap00098.png
 
~んだって mean that you are quoting what someone/something else has explained?
Yes, or, if not a direct quote, a repetition or paraphrase of some information heard second-hand.
As indicated in the image you posted, ~んだ is a contraction of ~のだ (which in itself is the shortened version of ~のです)
 
Yes, thank you! Based on what I know, that made the most sense, but I had this slight doubt that was really, really bugging me. Especially since I knew I've asked that before, but not in the proper way.
 
Hello,

I've included an image at the bottom to make it clear what the post is about. So, I understand that ~んだって is used to indicate "hearsay", but I am unsure about the purpose of ~んだ in this construction. Does it indicate an explanation? If so, does ~んだって mean that you are quoting what someone/something else has explained?

I know I've asked something similar to this before (LINK). To me, the fact that in "んだって," "んだ" is part of the quoted speech implies that you are quoting what someone/something else has explained. But I would like a confirmation on this, since at that time, for some reason, I asked it in that incomplete way :(.
That differs depending on the context. The explanatory tone can be added also by the speaker, not only by the source of the hearsay. For instance, think about two different situations for the example #3 in your quotation.

Two people A and B were walking by a pastry shop, and A asked B if the shop's cakes were delicious. B didn't know it, so asked C about it by phone.
In this case, B's answer is あの店のケーキ、おいしいって since there is no explanatory tone here (in both B and C).

Few days later, B and D saw a long line at the front of the pastry shop, and D asked why the shop was so popular.
B's answer is あの店のケーキ、おいしいんだって in this case since B explains the reason. Notice that this explanatory tone is given by B, not C, i.e., the source of the hearsay.
 
Few days later, B and D saw a long line at the front of the pastry shop, and D asked why the shop was so popular.
B's answer is あの店のケーキ、おいしいんだって in this case since B explains the reason. Notice that this explanatory tone is given by B, not C, i.e., the source of the hearsay.
This helps a lot. Knowing this, some sentences that I've encountered make more sense now.

この間 私の目が好きって言ってくれたでしょ?嬉しかったんだ。あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだって
What about this sentence I posted back then? Here too, is the explanatory tone given by the speaker and not the source of the hearsay?
 
Last edited:
That's not hearsay in the first place. って is indeed for quotation, but あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだ is the speaker's thoughts, not what you (= the one the speaker is talking to) said. ん is used there since she explains the reason why she is happy, あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてる(とわかった)から、嬉しかった makes more sense?
 
Yes. I understand now what the sentence means, but the syntax seems weird. Does the sentence simply end with んだって? Is there something omitted after it?

Or is it an inversion, similar to how you rephrased it but with んだって instead?
あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだって、嬉しかったんだ
This one seems wrong. The original sentence is fine because she firsts says that she is happy and THEN she explains why. But here, the explanation for why she is happy comes before saying that she is happy.
 
It's an inversion, and something like わかったから is omitted after って as I wrote.
There is no problem whether the explanation is put before or after the reason. 来てくれてありがとう (cause/reason --> result/appreciation) is not odd at all, no?
 
There is no problem whether the explanation is put before or after the reason. 来てくれてありがとう (cause/reason --> result/appreciation) is not odd at all, no?
No, it was just んだって that seemed strange to be used like that. Probably because there is something I still don't get or I am simply not used to this usage.
It's an inversion, and something like わかったから is omitted after って as I wrote.
In the sentence that you wrote, you used って/と instead of んだって.
Do you mean that I should simply add わかったから after んだって? Like あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだってわかったから、嬉しかったんだ ? Sorry if I'm insisting too much on this. But this sentence seems strange to me, so I'd like to make sure that this is indeed what you meant before asking about it.
 
See the following example.

来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。
This is what the speaker said or thought at the time.

来てくれた(んだ)とわかって/知って/気づいて、ありがたかった。
This is an objective description about past thoughts/feelings. んだ is optional here since this is an indirect quotation.

ありがたかったんだ。来てくれたんだって(わかって/知って/気づいて)。
This is an inversion version of an explanation about past thoughts/feelings in a conversation.


Here's another one.
起きて待っててくれたんだ。申し訳ない。

起きて待っててくれた(んだ)とわかって/知って/気づいて、申し訳なかった。

申し訳なかったんだ。起きて待っててくれたんだって(わかって/知って/気づいて)。


Back to your example, what she felt when he said he liked her eyes was;
私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだ。嬉しい。

An objective description is;
私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてる(んだ)とわかって/知って/気づいて、嬉しかった。
(This is what I wrote in my previous post, as you already know.)

An inversion version of her explanation in the conversation is;
嬉しかったんだ。あなたが私のことを、私の一部でも気に入ってくれてるんだって(わかって/知って/気づいて)。


As you can see above, these んだって are just "explanatory んだ + って for quotation". You seem to stick to んだって as a set too much.
 
Thanks for the examples. Seeing that first example makes it clear what my issue is. In the end, the problem is solely with my understanding of んだ. Let's take the first example you gave, since it is the simplest:
来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。

For my example, you said that んだ is used there since she explains the reason why she is happy, so this should apply to your example as well, I interpreted this "explaining the reason" to be the same as 来てくれてありがとう, that is, a simple "Thank you for coming".

But when I read 来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。I interpret this んだ as indicating the speaker's understanding/realization that the other person came. And after realizing that the other person did them this favor, she thanks them, or says that she is happy, etc. Something like "So you came. Thank you!". I had exactly the same impression about 来てくれたんだとわかって、ありがたかった。

And, I know I said I understood the meaning of my sentence, but I thought that the meaning of んだ was as in the first case.

So did I misunderstand when you said んだ is used to explain the reason? Or is my interpretation of んだ wrong?
 
Last edited:
But when I read 来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。I interpret this んだ as indicating the speaker's understanding/realization that the other person came. And after realizing that the other person did them this favor, she thanks them, or says that she is happy, etc.
So, are you saying that 来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。 is different from ありがとう。来てくれたんだ。 in meaning?

Sorry, but I don't see any problem to say 来てくれた is the cause/reason of gratitude, as same as;
彼女が来るんだ。楽しみだ。/楽しみだ。彼女が来るんだ。
ペットが死んじゃったんだ。悲しい。/悲しい。ペットが死んじゃったんだ。
or
気に入ってくれてるんだ。嬉しい。/嬉しい。気に入ってくれてるんだ。.
 
So, are you saying that 来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。 is different from ありがとう。来てくれたんだ。 in meaning?
Yes, that's what it felt like. It seemed weird to state the cause/reason for something that wasn't mentioned yet.
There is no problem whether the explanation is put before or after the reason. 来てくれてありがとう (cause/reason --> result/appreciation) is not odd at all, no?
来てくれたんだ。ありがとう。seems weird probably because it is two different sentences instead of just one, like in the case of 来てくれてありがとう.

Anyway, I understand now. It was all because of this misconception that I had.
Lots of thanks for taking the time to clarify it all!
 
Back
Top Bottom