ということだ
- 1Hearsay: passes on information obtained from another source, often introduced with によると.Ex. 1
- 2Conclusion or rephrasing: sums up or restates what follows from the situation, often with つまり.Ex. 2
Verb (plain form)The plain (non-ます) forms of a verb: affirmative or negative, non-past or past.
行く・行かない・行った・行かなかった
The dictionary form is only one of these: 行く.
i-adj. (plain form)The plain (non-です) forms of an i-adjective: affirmative or negative, non-past or past.
高い・高くない・高かった・高くなかった
The dictionary form is only one of these: 高い. The polite version adds です to the plain form.
na-adj. stemA na-adjective without な, i.e. the form listed in a dictionary.
静か・きれい・好き
Add な before a noun (静かな部屋); as a predicate, follow it with だ／です (静かだ).
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The hearsay sense sounds somewhat objective and neutral-to-formal, suiting news, forecasts and reports. It often pairs with a source marked by によると/によれば. The conclusion sense is common in conversation and explanation, frequently after つまり or 要するに, and is often shortened to ってことだ in casual speech.
Note that in the hearsay sense ということだ itself is normally not made negative or past; put any negation or tense in the reported clause.
Learners should use context, such as によると or つまり, to tell whether ということだ reports hearsay or states a conclusion.
- 1.そうだN4そうだ only expresses hearsay, matching the hearsay sense of ということだ; here the two are generally interchangeable, with そうだ more casual and spoken. It requires だ after nouns and な-adjectives, and it cannot express the 'in other words' conclusion meaning.
- 2.んだってN3んだって corresponds only to the hearsay sense and is casual speech among friends, unsuitable for superiors or formal situations. It has no conclusion meaning, and you can use rising intonation 「〜んだって？」 to confirm what you heard; after nouns and な-adjectives it takes the form なんだって.
- 3.ということはN2ということは comes at the start of a sentence or after a clause, picking up the previous statement to introduce an inference ('that means...'), with the conclusion following; ということだ goes at the end of the sentence as the conclusion and also has a hearsay sense. Their positions differ, so they cannot be swapped.
- 4.わけだN3わけだ is close to ということだ in the 'in other words' sense and they are often interchangeable, but わけだ more strongly emphasizes a conclusion that follows logically; it also means 'no wonder' and does not express hearsay. After nouns and な-adjectives it takes な and similar forms.
- 5.らしいN4The two are similar in the hearsay sense: ということだ reports information faithfully without conjecture, while らしい carries a tone of speculation and can also be used to infer from signs. Before らしい, nouns and な-adjectives do not take だ, and it has no 'in other words' meaning.
- 6.によると / によればN3によると attaches to a noun and is placed before the content to mark the information source, while ということだ comes at the end of the sentence to close the reported content; the two are often used together and cannot be swapped. によると can also introduce inferences based on documents or data, and it has no 'in other words' meaning.
For hearsay, そうだ is the most common, んだって is casual spoken, and ということだ is more objective and written-style; らしい adds the speaker's conjecture rather than plain reporting, and によると／によれば only marks the source and often pairs with ということだ. For conclusions, わけだ stresses a logical or eye-opening conclusion, ということは opens a sentence to introduce an inference, while ということだ closes a sentence to summarize or rephrase what came before.
