Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
といえば / といったら / ときたら / ったら

といえば / といったら / ときたら / ったら

といえば / といったら / ときたら / ったら Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: Speaking of X

Construction: 

  • Noun + といえば
    • E.g. 東京とうきょうといえば [Speaking of Tokyo]
  • Sentence + といえば
    • E.g. 休やすむといえば [Speaking of being absent]

Notes:

  • といえば corresponds to the English expression “Speaking of….“. It is used to apply an item that is currently under discussion as the topic of a new discussion. As an example, imagine the following discussion: A: “I saw a turtle today. It was cute!” B: “Speaking of turtles, let’s get some turtle soup for dinner.” In this example, Person A brings up the fact that he saw a turtle today, and Speaker B applies turtles as the topic of a separate discussion regarding dinner plans. In Japanese, this conversation can be conveyed using といえば.
    • E.g. A: 今日きょうはカメを見みて可愛かわいかった。 B: カメといえば、こんばんカメスープを食たべましょう。[A: I saw a turtle today. It was cute! B: Speaking of turtles, let’s get some turtle soup for dinner.]
  • といえば typically follows noun phrases, but it can be used with any part of speech。
    • E.g. A: 小西こにしくんはよく休やすむねえ。B: よく休やすむといえば、山本やまもとくんも最近さいきん見みませんね。[A: Konishi-kun is often absent, isn’t he? B: Speaking of often being absent, I haven’t seen Yamamoto-kun much lately either.] In this example, といえば follows a verb.
  • The informal version of といえば is っていえば.
    • E.g. よく休やすむっていえば、山本やまもとくんも最近さいきん見みませんね。[Speaking of often being absent, I haven’t seen Yamamoto-kun much lately either.]
  • ときたら and といったら are related expressions that serve basically the same function as といえば. However, one important difference is that ときたら and といったら are used specifically with noun phrases. They can both be abbreviated as ったら in order to present a noun phrase as a topic in casual conversation. ったら is more emphatic than the normal topic marking particle は and can be thought of as meaning “When it comes to….” or “In the case of…“.
    • E.g. クリスったら私わたしには何なにも言いわないのよ。[When it comes to Chris, she didn’t tell me anything.]
  • Another way to casually introduce topics is って (the abbreviation of という or というのは). It roughly translates to “When you say X….” or “What you call X….“. って is often used to seek clarification about something a conversational partner has just said. As with といえば, って can be used with any part of speech.
    • E.g. A: シービーを買かいましたよ。B:シービーって？ [A: I bought A CB. B: When you say CB…(i.e What’s a CB?)]
    • E.g A: 来週らいしゅうから英語えいごを教おしえるんです。B: 英語えいごを教おしえるって、誰だれに？ [A: From next week I’ll be teaching English. B: When you say you’ll be speaking English…To whom?]

Example Sentences:

A: この本ほんは田中たなかさんに借かりたんです。B: 田中たなかさんと言いえばもう病気びょうきは治なおったのかしら。[I borrowed this book from Tanaka-san. B: Speaking of Tanaka-san, I wonder if he has recovered from his illness?]

A: 小西こにしくんはよく休やすむねえ。B: よく休やすむといえば、山本やまもとくんも最近さいきん見みませんね。[A: Konishi-kun is often absent, isn’t he? B: Speaking of often being absent, I haven’t seen Yamamoto-kun much lately either.]

A: 次つぎの日曜日にちようびは京都きょうとへ行いくつもりだ。B: 京都きょうとと言いえば、春子はるこが京都きょうと大学だいがくの入学にゅうがく試験しけんに通とおったそうだ。[A: I plan to go to Kyoto next Sunday. B: Speaking of Kyoto, I heard that Haruko passed the entrance exam for Kyoto University.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line from 0:33: 茶ちゃの湯ゆといえば、千利休せんのりきゅう [Speaking of tea ceremonies, it’s Sen No Rikyuu]
Listen to this line from 1:11: 話はなすことといえば、ゴルフと銭ぜにと出世しゅっせ話ばなし [Speaking of the things we talked about, it was golf, money, and success in life]
Listen to this line from 0:52: あのバカ息子むすこと来きたらもう不器用ぶきようが化膿かのうしちゃってて [When it comes to that dumb son, his clumsiness had already come to a head]
Listen to this line from 1:47: 好すきといったら、その男おとこはいかんと[Speaking of liking, that man will not do]

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