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Quotations?

Allison Moses

後輩
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8 Oct 2012
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I'm in my third semester of Japanese, and I had to do an interview with one of my sensei for a project. We had to type a report, and I finished that... but my question is about the presentation I have to do on it soon.
I asked my sensei what her hobbies are, and I know to say "_____ said ____" I use 言っていました. What I'm wondering is when I verbally make these quotes, can I just say "寺田先生は「音楽を聞いて、縫います」と言っていました" and the quotations are implied? Or do I need to say everything like "寺田先生は,音楽を聞いて、縫うと言っていました"? Or does it really even matter?
Sorry if this is a stupid question! I'm just a little confused, and I didn't know where else to look. :sorry:
 
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Are you asking if you have to verbally indicate the presence of the quotation marks?
 
I don't think that's what I'm asking. I guess I really just want to know if there's a difference between the two kinds of quoting I used when speaking. Is it okay to have everything with です or ます and then と言っていました? Or do I need to, like with a う-verb, keep the う and then say と言っていました?
 
Oh, now I see!

If it is a direct quote then it is a direct quote and you don't monkey with the endings.

Indirect quotes are handled a little differently and with those you change to plain form, as they're only a summation of what the person said and not his actual words. They are grammatically a part of your own sentence instead of somebody else's sentence embedded inside yours.

Have you learned the verb おっしゃる yet?
 
It doesn't matter either way. Listners can recognize whether it's a direct quotation or an indirect quotation.

BTW, what do you mean by 音楽を聞いて、縫います? Honorific is not required for teacher?
 
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