と言われる details
write + I was told to
kaku to iwareru
I was told to; I was told that — words reported by the person they were aimed at
健康診断のあと、少し体重を落としたほうがいいと言われた。
kenkoushindan no ato, sukoshi taijuu o otoshita hou ga ii to iwareta.
After the check-up I was told I'd do well to lose a little weight. neutral
友達に、そのシャツ似合ってるって言われた。
tomodachi ni, sono shatsu niatterutte iwareta.
A friend told me that shirt suits me. casual
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- dictionary form
- na-adjective
- noun
- contraction
- alternant
- alternant
- alternant
- alternant
- alternant
- formal
- past
- polite
Examples
I was told to do — an order or request relayed in the words it was made in
親に、そろそろ働けって言われた。
oya ni, sorosoro hatarakette iwareta.
My parents told me it's about time I got a job. casual
上司に、来週までに企画書を出せと言われた。
joushi ni, raishuu made ni kikakusho o dase to iwareta.
My boss told me to have the proposal in by next week. neutral
医者に、しばらく激しい運動はするなと言われた。
isha ni, shibaraku hageshii undou wa suru na to iwareta.
The doctor told me not to do any strenuous exercise for a while. neutral
係の方に、こちらでお待ちくださいと言われました。
kakari no kata ni, kochira de o machi kudasai to iwaremashita.
The attendant told me to wait over here. formal
I was told that — content someone directed at the speaker, relayed as a plain clause
健康診断のあと、少し体重を落としたほうがいいと言われた。
kenkoushindan no ato, sukoshi taijuu o otoshita hou ga ii to iwareta.
After the check-up I was told I'd do well to lose a little weight. neutral
友達に、そのシャツ似合ってるって言われた。
tomodachi ni, sono shatsu niatterutte iwareta.
A friend told me that shirt suits me. casual
Formation
命令形 + と言われる（「静かにしろ」と言われた）attaches to plain clause{P}と言われるattaches to plain form{V}なと言われるattaches to dictionary form{NA-stem}だと言われるattaches to na-adjective{N}だと言われるattaches to noun
Variant notes
- って言われた — と relaxes to って in speech, and this is the everyday shape of the whole pattern — 早く寝ろって言われた。
- と言われている — ている makes the telling-off habitual while the speaker stays the one being told — 上司にいつも報告が遅いと言われている.
- と注意される — 注意する puts a warning behind the words rather than a plain report — 声が大きいと注意された。
- としかられる — しかる is an outright telling-off, so the speaker is being blamed as well as told — 何度も同じ間違いをするなとしかられた。
- と怒られる — the everyday spoken version of としかられる, and the commoner one by far — 連絡が遅いと怒られた。
- と聞かれる — 聞く turns the report into a question put to the speaker, so what と closes is a question, not a statement — どれが一番ほしいのかと聞かれた。
- と言われました — the polite past, which is what a report to a superior or a customer uses — 窓口で、書類が一枚足りないと言われました。
Notes
(先生に／先生から言われた); によって is not an option.
A ます or ください left inside the quotation is a word-for-word report of how
it was said; the plain form summarises it instead.
Related patterns
Similar
と言っていた relays a third party's words onward and names whose words they are (田中さんが…と言っていた); と言われた puts the reporter at the receiving end, so who spoke can stay unsaid altogether and the に-phrase is optional.
と言われた relays whatever was said, statement or order alike; てくれと言われた marks the words as a request made for the reporter's own benefit — the くれ is what shows the favor was aimed at the person now telling you about it.
と言われた hands back the words themselves, so a blunt 出せ stays blunt inside the quotation; ように言われた restates the instruction in the reporter's own words, which strips the original's tone off it and works for orders and polite requests alike.
Lookalikes
という labels content with neither a speaker nor a hearer in view (値上げするという話); と言われる keeps both roles alive — somebody said it, and the person reporting it is the one it was said to.
Same verb, different cast — と言われた has a speaker and a hearer, and the hearer is the one doing the reporting (先生に言われた); in the reputation reading と言われている has neither, which is why no に-phrase ever appears in it.