ようにいう Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Phrase
Essential Meaning: Tell X to do Y / Say X in such a way that Y
Construction:
- Verb informal nonpast + ようにいう
- E.g. 話すようにいう [Tell X to speak]
- E.g. 食べるようにいう [Tell X to eat]
Notes:
- ようにいう (ように言う in kanji) has two usages:
- (1) Indirect imperative:
- ように言う can be used to convey the concept of “Tell X to do Y“, “X tells Y to do Z“, “X tells me to do Y“, or “Could you tell X to do Y?” Such sentences may involve:
- (1) Someone other than the speaker making a request or command to a third party (i.e. “X told Y to do Z“)
- (2) The speaker making a command to someone via a messenger (i.e. “Tell X to do Y“)
- (3) A second party giving an indirect command to the speaker (i.e. “X told me to do Y“)
- Indirect imperative sentences must be paired with controllable verbs such as する [To do], 待つ [To wait], 来る [To come], and 読む [To read] as opposed to non-controllable verbs such as 分かる [To understand] and 聞こえる [To be audible]. In other words, the request or demand must be actionable. In the context of an indirect imperative, the 言う in ように言う may be replaced by other verbs of communication such as 頼む [To request], 命じる [To order],or 求める [To request].
- E.g. 先生は学生に宿題をするように言った。[The teacher told his students to do their homework.]
- E.g. 田中さんは山本さんにすぐ来るように頼んだ。[Tanaka-san asked Yamamoto-san to come immediately.]
- Indirect imperative sentences can be rephrased as direct imperatives. Keep in mind that when creating a direct imperative quotation, the formality level of the quotation must align with the formality level of the main verb (e.g. a strong, informal command such as 「来い!」 does not match with a polite request verb has 頼む [To request].
- E.g. Direct Imperative 田中さんは山本さんに「すぐきてください」と言った。[Tanaka-san asked Yamamoto-san: “Come immediately!”]
- E.g. Indirect Imperative: 田中さんは山本さんにすぐ来るように頼んだ。[Tanaka-san asked Yamamoto-san to come immediately.]
- ように言う can be used to convey the concept of “Tell X to do Y“, “X tells Y to do Z“, “X tells me to do Y“, or “Could you tell X to do Y?” Such sentences may involve:
- (2) An expression meaning “Say X in such a way that Y“:
- In this context, the main verb tends to be a potential form verb.
- E.g. 私は聞こえるようにはっきり言った。[I said it in such a way that it was clearly audible.]
- In this context, the main verb tends to be a potential form verb.
- (1) Indirect imperative:
Example Sentences:
先生は学生に宿題をするように言った。[The teacher told the students to do their homework.]
坂本さんはクリスに図書館の前で待っているように言った。[Sakamoto-san told Chris to be waiting in front of the library.]
すみませんが、小林さんに明日朝九時にここへ来るように言ってくださいませんか。[I’m sorry, but could you please tell Kobayashi-san to come here at 9 AM tomorrow morning?]
私は聞こえるようにはっきり言ったんですが。。。[I said it in such a way that it was clearly audible, but…]
WILD Examples:
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