んだって
- 1Reports hearsay casually: "I heard that…" or "apparently…".Ex. 1
- 2With rising intonation, asks the listener to confirm something the speaker has heard: "Is it true that…?"Ex. 3
- 3Said insistently, it presses the speaker's own claim on a listener who doesn't accept it: "I'm telling you…!" (e.g. だから、私が見たんだって！)Ex. 4
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).
Verb (ta-form)The plain past form of a verb, ending in た／だ.
行った・食べた・した・来（き）た
i-adj. (ta-form)The plain past form of an i-adjective: the final い changes to かった.
高かった・おいしかった・よかった（いい）
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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Used in casual conversation with friends and family, mainly to share news or rumors picked up from others. Compared with the plain quoting って, the ん adds an explanatory nuance and presents the information as a notable fact. Compared with そうだ (hearsay) or ということだ, it is much more informal and conversational. In an insistent tone, it can also repeat the speaker's own claim to a listener who doubts it.
Learners often forget to insert な after nouns and な-adjectives in the non-past, as in 学生なんだって, not 学生んだって.
Do not use んだって in formal writing or with superiors; use そうです or ということです for hearsay instead.
Note that the hearsay sense relays others' information; about your own experience, んだって instead insists emphatically, as in だから、私が見たんだって！
- 1.そうだN4「そうだ」 also means 'I heard that...' and is interchangeable with 「んだって」, but it is neutral in register; the polite form 「そうです」 works in formal situations and often pairs with 「によると」. After nouns and な-adjectives, it becomes 「だそうだ」.
- 2.ってN4「って」 can also mean 'called ~' or mark a topic; it is only similar to 「んだって」 when it expresses hearsay at the end of a sentence, where the two are often interchangeable. 「んだって」 carries the added explanatory nuance of 「ん」, making it sound more like sharing news.
- 3.ということだN3「ということだ」 also expresses hearsay, but with an objective, somewhat written tone, and is common in news reports and notices; in casual chat, 「んだって」 sounds more natural. It also has a concluding 'in other words' meaning that 「んだって」 lacks.
- 4.らしいN4When relaying hearsay, 「らしい」 is close to 「んだって」 and the two are often interchangeable in casual chat; however, 「らしい」 is neutral in register and relatively objective, and it can also express conjecture and function as a suffix (男らしい). When attached to a noun, say 「雨らしい」 directly, without adding 「な」.
- 5.によると / によればN3「によると」 attaches to a noun to identify the source of the information and is neutral in register; it often pairs with 「そうだ」 or 「らしい」 at the end of the sentence and can also express inference based on materials. 「んだって」 is used at the end of a sentence, does not need to state the source, and is limited to casual speech.
- 6.〜と言うN4「と言う」 centers on the act of saying itself and can introduce direct or indirect quotations; it is neutral in register, and 「〜と言われている」 can also express what is generally said. 「んだって」 is casual spoken language focused on sharing something you heard, and with a rising intonation it can confirm with the listener.
Unlike そうだ (hearsay) and ということだ, which are neutral to formal and usable in writing, んだって is strictly casual speech; らしい can express the speaker's own inference as well as hearsay, and plain って quotes without the explanatory ん nuance. によると / によれば names the information source explicitly and is often combined with these endings, while 〜と言う simply reports someone's words as speech.
