How to use "to iu"
- Thread starter beluga
- Start date
- 6 Mar 2003
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shichimatta
I think this should either be shiteshimatta or shichatta. It sounds like you're mixing up the two forms.
nan to iu
I can't think of any instances offhand where this would mean "such a". It's more like, "what's it called" or "what to say." I frequently use it to ask questions. For example:
nihongo de Mars ha nan to iu? --> What do you call Mars in Japanese?
nan to iu kaisha deshita kke? --> What was the name of that company (again)?
I think this should either be shiteshimatta or shichatta. It sounds like you're mixing up the two forms.
nan to iu
I can't think of any instances offhand where this would mean "such a". It's more like, "what's it called" or "what to say." I frequently use it to ask questions. For example:
nihongo de Mars ha nan to iu? --> What do you call Mars in Japanese?
nan to iu kaisha deshita kke? --> What was the name of that company (again)?
- 6 Mar 2003
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Oh yeah, forgot about that one. I don't remember hearing it with suru much. Actually I don't recall hearing it that much in any case. But it could partly be because I tended to hang with girls (to the detriment of my manliness). :-(
d3ntaku
後輩
- 17 Mar 2004
- 11
- 1
There are four different "toiu" grammar types in the JGram Project:
toiukotoda $B$H$$$&$3$H$@(B it must mean, it boils down to
toiumono $B$H$$$&$b$N(B that thing called
toiuto $B$H8@$&$H(B If you say, when you say
toiuyori $B$H$$$&$h$j(B rather / more than
I guess I should add the above "nantoiu"
Any other examples come to mind?
<dc>
toiukotoda $B$H$$$&$3$H$@(B it must mean, it boils down to
toiumono $B$H$$$&$b$N(B that thing called
toiuto $B$H8@$&$H(B If you say, when you say
toiuyori $B$H$$$&$h$j(B rather / more than
I guess I should add the above "nantoiu"
Any other examples come to mind?
<dc>
- 6 Mar 2003
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> I guess I should add the above "nantoiu"
> Any other examples come to mind?
There are lots of sentence patterns. Are you trying to enumerate them all?
For example, you can also have nan to iu koto? When said in a loud, upset voice I usually take it to mean "What the hell is going on here?!"
You could also add "to ieba" which is basically equivalent to "toiuto." (As well as "toittara"). And then there's "toittemo". Like I said, how far do you want to take it?
Is the grammar thing your baby? Pretty cool.
> Any other examples come to mind?
There are lots of sentence patterns. Are you trying to enumerate them all?
For example, you can also have nan to iu koto? When said in a loud, upset voice I usually take it to mean "What the hell is going on here?!"
You could also add "to ieba" which is basically equivalent to "toiuto." (As well as "toittara"). And then there's "toittemo". Like I said, how far do you want to take it?
Is the grammar thing your baby? Pretty cool.
Elizabeth
先輩
- 22 Apr 2003
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Iu is dropped fairly regularly in conversational speech as well, as in "to" or "to wa" --> "(unknown word) to (wa) nan desuka?" although it seems set in certain phrases such as "to iu hyougen" or "to iu kotoba." So how this pattern is distributed exactly I'm not quite sure....
beluga
先輩
- 10 Nov 2003
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- Thread starter
- #17
PaulTB said:
Nah, not too concern with JLPT but main to know clearly how to use "to iu" as and when I like rather than memorizing it as, "oh if I want to ask what is the meaning of this, I should use this phrase XXXX tte nan to iu imi desu ka". I always like to dissect words up to know exactly why it's used and when it's used. That way, I can have the full knowledge of knowing why I use them.
So, basically, I know the combination of nan to iu. However, I've seen "to iu" by itself many times and I couldn't fully understand when I should use it.
