Japanese grammar · no level in the source

〜ってmeaning and usage

Meaning

Used to quote sentence A. This is a casual form of と言う/と言いました.

How to form it

  • plain formって
  • plain formって言う/聞く

How it is used

A casual stand-in for the quoting 「と」: 「〜って言ってた」 = 「〜と言っていた」. On its own at the end of a sentence it reports what someone said. Use it with friends and family; in formal speech say 「〜と言っていました」.

Examples

  1. 先生が、明日はテストがないって言ってたよ。

    The teacher said there's no test tomorrow.

  2. 田中さん、今日は来られないって。

    Tanaka says they can't come today.